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Andrea Charroin’s Marathon Bars; Bonus Blast From The Past

A Facebook friend said he lost the recipe for Marathon Bars that I published many moons ago when I work for the newspaper, and wondered if I could locate and share it.

That set me on my search on anewscafe.com for Andrea’s Marathon Bar recipe, but, alas, we’d never published it here.

But what I DID find were dozens of Andrea’s food columns that go back half a decade here on anewscafe.com. Half a decade! I can’t believe it!  Andrea, who still has a following of loyal fans from her days as owner and baker at Renee Joule Patiserrie in downtown Redding, is a mother of two growing boys (whose middle names were the patisserie’s namesake), and she recently went back to school, graduated and is now a teacher. Lucky students.

Her first post for A News Cafe.com was Dec. 20, 2007, and it started as a Q&A column, which eventually turned into her writing a short column that included a recipe. Here’s that first column, complete with comments (which I did check first, just to ensure no unpleasant blasts from the past).

Baking Goddess Andrea Charroin

Because many of these recipes were published here on anewscafe.com way back when we had just a few thousand unique visitors each month, rather than the tens of thousands who read the site now, I thought it would be nice to republish some of Andrea’s first recipes … a delicious trip down Culinary Lane.But back to the Marathon Bars, a favorite, if I recall, of all kinds of people – athletes, menopausal women, teens on the run – you name it (them). Oh, by the way, these aren’t really “bars” but rather very dense discs.

At Renee Joule Patisserie, dedicated customers formed a line early in the morning to buy the Marathon Bars. They were mostly popular for breakfast, but also as a mid-day snack, because Marathon Bars are s0 packed with fruit, nuts, flax seed and soy milk (or buttermilk, if you’d prefer) that they give enough energy and vitamens that you might want to run a marathon, or, at the very least, dream of running one as you eat your Marathon Bar accompanied by a triple espresso laced with half and half.

Wonder of wonders (not really … because I rarely throw out a recipe) after looking in my recipe binders for just a few seconds I found the  newspaper clipping of Andrea’s Marathon Bar recipe. I am sharing the recipe here today, both for those who have fond memories of them, as well as for those who’d like to try them for the first time.

Meanwhile, stay tuned for more of Andrea’s archived recipes. But first, Andrea’s Marathon Bars.

Andrea’s Marathon Bars are packed with fruits, nuts and oatmeal, among other healthful ingredients.

Andrea’s Marathon Bars

1 cup whole almonds, toasted (may use other nuts)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
Zest and juice of one orange
3 cups of chopped, dried fruit (such as raisins, cranberries and apricots)
3/4 cup flax seed
3/4 cup soy milk (whole milk or buttermilk works, too)

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and oats in a large bowl and mix well.

Add to that mixture the orange zest, dried fruits and nuts. Combine.  Add the flax seed and soy milk. Mix the ingredients until you can form th dough into several 6-ounce discs. (To do this, form the dough into a tennis-ball sized round. Then place the ball on the counter and use your hand to press and flatten the ball into a disc as if forming a hamburger patty. You should get between 6 and 8 Marathon Bars per recipe.

Place the discs on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Squeeze the orange juice over the discs (or brush them with the orange juice).

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

Makes about 6 to 8 marathon bars.

Copyright Andrea Charroin 2012.

Independent online journalist Doni Chamberlain founded what’s now known as anewscafe.com in 2007 with her son, Joe Domke of the Czech Republic. Prior to 2007 Chamberlain was an award-winning newspaper opinion columnist, feature and food writer recognized by the Associated Press, the California Newspaper Publishers Association and E.W. Scripps. She lives in Redding, CA.

Doni Chamberlain

Independent online journalist Doni Chamberlain founded A News Cafe in 2007 with her son, Joe Domke. Chamberlain holds a Bachelor's Degree in journalism from CSU, Chico. She's an award-winning newspaper opinion columnist, feature and food writer recognized by the Associated Press, the California Newspaper Publishers Association and E.W. Scripps. She's been featured and quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, L.A. Times, Slate. Bloomberg News and on CNN, KQED and KPFA. She lives in Redding, California.

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