Vik's - Hermit/Romeo Bars

When we were living in Seaside, OR - years ago, going shopping was fun for me. We had many stops to shop. We'd head to the Coast Guard Exchange for toiletries etc., and make stops on the way back at the farmers market for our fresh produce, Reed and Hertig Meats and a couple different places maybe for baked goods. I don't remember the name of the Health food store we'd go to but they had a brownie type dessert -power bar - something, that I've been trying to find ever since. Ah the memories and my tastes buds are on high alert to find it ever since! Yummy>>>>! Which leads me to today's post. Since I haven't been able to find an actually recipe for Romeo Bars. I've been going by my taste buds to come up with a recipe of my own. It was pure love at first bite. For the healthy end to things - I figured I'd tweak it later, the main thing was coming up with a base to start with.

So here goes my almost but not quite recipe Romeo Bar recipe. It still taste pretty good.


Heat oven at 350 and prepare a 9X13" pan

Next get all your ingredients together.

Ingredients:

2 cups wheat pastry flour (or whatever you prefer)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup of raw sugar (you can use brown)
3 tbsp. cocoa
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 -1/2 fresh nutmeg and ground cloves (to your liking)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup molasses
2 eggs
1/2 cup of dried cranberries (I used Newman's organic)
1/3 cup chopped dried apricots (you could also use other fruit like dates)
1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I love them but you can use less)

In a mixing bowl - mix together butter and sugar until smooth or somewhat smooth (if you're using raw sugar the granules will be a bit large and will not break down as much). Add eggs and molasses.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa and spices. Then add to wet mixture a little at a time. Then stir in fruit and nuts. Put into your prepared pan, bake for about 20 -25 depending on your oven and pan. You want it to be done through but moist. You can tell it will look similar to a cake brownie. Enjoy!

*Keep in mind, if you want to cook healthier you can always do that with substituting ingredients. When I do use sugar I buy organic not refined bleached processed white. But sugar is still sugar. Healthier that's where the tweaking will come in.