C.Proppé Artist's Blog: Homemade “Iced Lemon” Zbars Snack Bars

I raised my twin boys in the SF Bay Area, where we were huge fans of the local organic farms and organic food companies. A Clif Bar Ambassador and tent was always at our kids’ school Lapathon’s and “Bike to School” days. How lucky the kids were to have those free, donated healthy snacks.

As a Mom, I always loved the Zbars too. They were smaller, less calories and less sweet than other bars, easy to throw in my bag or pocket for a hike, and I loved the Iced Lemon Cookie flavor more than any health bar. The Luna Lemon bar was not the same at all, and I truly loved the softer, chewy texture and lemon flavoring in the Zbar. It was more like a soft, melt in your mouth, cookie vs a crunchy, hard bar.

When Clif Bar discontinued this flavor, I was crushed! I couldn’t believe it at all. How could they discontinue MY FAVORITE FLAVOR?!!! NoooooO! 😢🥺😔

So, I literally would stop at every healthy grocery store up and down the California coast, purchasing any remaining lemon Zbars they had left for at least a year or so after they stopped making them. It became like a treasure hunt, and every time I found some, I was overjoyed. Yes, I took pictures because I was so delighted.

I wrote to Clif Bar and called them directly, and asked why they discontinued them, and if they would ever bring them back for a special occasion, and I never got an answer. This was right around the time that the Clif Family was selling their company to a larger brand group. I knew things were changing, and even my sons were getting older and changing too. As young adults, they suddenly wanted to go to Subway and buy their own sandwiches and Clif bars were not packed in their lunches by Mom anymore, though I still send them boxes of the Kid’s Clif Protein Bars— “Cool Mint” still being one of their favs.

One of my boys began working part-time at the local organic grocery store, where he could buy his own food, and the other twin started working at a local restaurant. I remember when I worked at Annie’s in Berkeley and the Marketing Director told me I was no longer their target customer—that I had “aged out”… my sons were too old for cute, bunny-shaped foods. Well, that’s their opinion, but lots of adults still love cute designs, organic crackers and mac & cheese. I still loved the kids’ Lemon Zbars!

Anyway, my fraternal twin boys’ birthday is coming up next month, and I thought I would attempt to make these myself and send them some. Result? These turned out *amazing*, much different than the actual Clif Bar product, but just as delicious. I think that if you grind the oats in a food processor before baking, it might give you a smoother texture that is similar to the Clif kids bar. I did not do that, so my first batch had a little bit more texture and crunch, but I kind of liked that myself.

Here are the ingredients, if you want to try too:

Iced Lemon 🍋Cookie

Homemade “Clif Kid’s Z bar”

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Organic Rolled Oats
(Bob’s Red Mill Brand is one option)
1 cup Organic Oat Flour
1/2 cup Organic Milled Flaxseed
1/4-1/2 cup Organic Tapioca Syrup (or Brown Rice Syrup)
1 bag Organic White Chunks*
(order online from Tierra Farms)
Use 1/2 chopped for inside the bars, and the other 1/2 will be melted and mixed with lemon extract for icing.
1/4 cup Organic Fig Paste
6 Tbs. Organic Soy Butter (or Organic Earth Balance Spread)
2 Tbs. Organic Sunflower Oil
2 Tbs. 🍋Lemon Extract
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Sea Salt

*12 oz or larger bag Organic white chunks:

Organic White Chocolate Chunks | Tierra Farm Certified Organic (you may want to order a larger bag to make sure you have enough left for the icing. I ran out, and improvised with one of my other two icings using Earth Balance and honey)

Combine all above ingredients and mix well.

Press into silicone molds about 1/2 full, depending on thickness of desired bar. I put the silicone molds on a baking sheet, so it’s easier to put them into the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Let cool at least 5-10 min.

Place another baking sheet over top of molds and flip entire thing over. Peel back the molds to reveal your bars. Ice with desired icing/glaze.

Glaze (3 different recipes):

Melt 1/2 bag of Tierra Farm White Chunks and add organic lemon extract. Pipe through pastry bag onto cooled bars or use Wax paper rolled into a cone with the tip cut off.
(personally, I like this one the best because it hardens quickly and retains it’s shape best)
——
Organic Earth Balance Spread, Organic Lemon Zest or Lemon Extract, Honey
Organic “Date Sugar”(it’s a powder), Organic Lemon Zest or Lemon Extract, some form of “butter” either soy or fig? (optional: vanilla & honey)

I have almost all the ingredients! I’m waiting on the Organic White Chunks from TierraFarm.com

For the icing, there is no perfect solution here, because of allergy and health preferences. Some people like to make their own lemon zest, and others, like to only use bottled extract. Date sugar is a type of powdered, dry ingredient, but it has a very different taste than honey as a sweetener. The honey is a moist ingredient so you would have to add more of a solid, buttery or paste ingredient to mix that with. So, I’m not going to give the exact ingredients here for your icing, but I will say it’s possible to experiment and come up with different icings that are organic and don’t use any refined sugar, only fruit, maple syrup, or honey-based sweeteners. Choose what you or your kids like best.