Oat 'n' Nut Balls

Need a treat? Use your storage items to make these healthy, fiber-filled goodies.
Now what is barley malt syrup????
My husband likes lots of goodies, but he refuses to eat anything with white supar in it. Once he purchased a jar of Barley Malt Syrup for me to experiment with. I used it for a month on his peanut butter sandwiches. He liked it better than honey. In this recipe, you can substitute honey for the barley malt syrup (which is available at health food stores).We like it because it is not too sickly sweet. Has a great flavor. By the way, Barley Malt Syrup is a bit cheaper than honey. This 20 oz. jar was $6.60 at BJ's. And it is organic and ...well...read on...

Barley malt syrup is a natural sweetener made by malting barley grains. During the malting process, the grains produce maltose, a unique type of sugar. The sweetener has a unique flavor and a distinctive rich, dark color. Many stores sell barley malt syrup for use in cooking and baking, and the substance is also used in the production of beer.

The cereal grain barley has been an important part of the human diet for thousands of years. It is hardy in both cold weather and droughts, and it has high nutritional value. There are numerous uses for barley, which can be eaten plain, ground into flour, or processed into other foods. The popularity of barley has declined in favor of crops like wheat, but it can still be obtained in most grocery stores. The bulk of the modern barley crop is used in animal fodder and beer production.

To make barley malt syrup, barley grains are allowed to sprout, or germinate. The resulting sprouted barley is dried, often in a kiln or quick drying oven. Next, the sprouts are slowly cooked so that they form a sweet, dark syrup. The syrup is strained to remove impurities and then it is bottled or canned.

As a sweetener, barley malt syrup is about half as sweet as conventional sugar and it has a malty, molasses-like flavor. Because the sugars in barley malt syrup are very complex, they are also slowly broken down by the body. This means that barley malt syrup will not cause a “sugar high” like refined sugar does, since it releases slowly. Barley malt syrup can be used alone in cooking, or it can be combined with other sweeteners.
(http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-barley-malt-syrup.htm)

Oat 'n' Nut Balls

2 cups rolled oats (I used quick oats)
1/3 barley malt syrup (or honey)
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup nut butter (almond butter, peanut butter, etc.)
1/2 teasp. vanilla
1/2 teasp. cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans or any combination of chopped nuts.
(I used peacans which I first toasted (before I chopped) on my stovetop in an irons skillet...on medium heat, stirring, for about 5-6 minutes.)



1. Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl.
2. Moisten hands slightly with water and mix all ingredients thoroughly.
3. Moisten your hands to prevent sticking, and form the mixture into equal sized balls or press inot a pan and slice into bars. (I rolled mine into balls and then into finely shredded coconut (available in bins at WinCo)
4. Enjoy!