NUTTY COCONUT CRANBERRY BARS



 

 

Many of you know that we love homemade bars here at A Simply Raw Life, this time though, I wanted to try one that was slightly different. I was inpsired by these bars I saw on Ascension Kitchen.  These looked so good and they turned out to be more versitile than I thought. Thanks Lauren!  Super delicious... Check it out...



NUTTY COCONUT CRANBERRY BARS

 

Note:  Remember that it's is preferrable to soak the almonds and cashews first and then dehydrated until they are dry to activatge your nuts and seeds, which give you added nutritional benefits.  Of course, if you don't have time or do not have a dehyrator, this recipe still works just as fine.

1 cup of raw almonds
½ cup of shredded coconut
1 cup of cashews
½ cup of dried cranberries
¼ cup of hemp seeds
¼ cup of chia seeds
¼ cup of coconut butter
¼ cup of raw honey
4 tablespoons of coconut oil
4 Medjool dates
pinch of sea salt
Zest of one lemon

 

In the food processor, chop up the almonds for a quick second to chop them into smaller pieces.  Add the coconut, cashews and chopped a little more for a few seconds.  Transfer the mixture into a large bowl.  Add the hemp and chia seeds.

 

In the food processor add the coconut butter, honey, coconut oil, dates, salt and lemon.  Mix together unitl well combined into a nice paste.  Now combine this mixture to the dry mixure and and fold it in with your hands combining it well.

 

Press the mixture well into a 8" x 8" baking dish that is lined with parchment paper and chill in the freezer for 1 hour.  Now it's ready to be cut and eaten!  Makes about 10 bars.

 

Store the remaining bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

 



I also have used these bars as grawnola and crumbled it on top of a smoothie bowl, ice cream, and fruit.  In the photo above, I topped it on my Chocolate Almond Milk Ice Cream.  So delicious!

Enjoy!

Join the discussion!

If you have a favorite dairy free ice cream recipe, feel free to share it in the comments below. Links are welcome!

 



ENERGY BARS

True Confessions.....I am a single mother and I don't have time....like ever, so I try to make recipes that give me the most bang for the buck.   I like these energy bars because they are a great snack that gets me over the 3 o'clock hump, and they last a while in my house.  You can find the original recipe for the Energy Bars here.  This time I made them more of a fruity chewy bar.

I wanted to try some different fruit combinations so I used dried blueberries, dried apricots, shredded coconut, and some ginger chews that I stubled across at Trader Joe's, this is what they look like here.

Some time saving tips that I learned along the way:

*I use a lot of whole nuts, and chopped about 1/3.  

*Blend the nuts first that you want to chop, then the dates.  

*Remember to use a food processor.  A blender will not work, it will turn the nuts into butter too soon, and it's torture to clean the dates off of the blades  (this I learned the hard way),  and who has time for that?

*Also parchment paper is your best friend.  Use it to line your cookie sheet to have less clean up.

*Also once the bars are cut wrap them individually in saran wrap.  This will save you a lot of time when you are daily preparing your snack, just pop one out of the freezer and your ready to go!

This recipe is very versatile so the same guidelines apply, I just used different ingredients.  

Here's what I used:

FRUITS:

Dried Blueberries

Dried Apricots

Shredded Coconut

Crystalized Ginger (found at Trader Joe's)

NUTS:

Cashews
Sliced Almonds
Macadamia

RAW CRANBERRY ALMOND BARS WITH RAW CACAO FROSTING

 

Written by Contributor Britney Manuel of BtanJerine, Family Sponge and A Simply Raw Life.  This recipe was originally posted on Family Sponge HERE. It was so popular, that we had to bring the recipe to our viewers as well.  Enjoy!

 

 

At about 3 o’clock PM everyday a little man inside of me says, “it’s time for chocolate!”, and when he talks…I listen! And sometimes much to my dismay, this little man has cheap taste. So in an effort to be proactive I knew I had to at least make a healthier version to tame this wild beast of a chocolate monster within me. So this is what I did!

 



 

 

Raw Cranberry Almond Bars with Raw Cacao Frosting

Bar Ingredients

---

4 cups raw almonds
2 lbs. dates
1 cup shredded coconut
2 tablespoons chia seeds
2 cups dried cranberries

Frosting

---

1/2 cup maple syrup or agave nectar
1/4 cup coconut oil, warmed to liquid
2/3 cup cacao or carob powder

Directions

---

For the Bar

 

Blend the dates in a food processor until it makes a thick chuncky paste, and place in a bowl.  The pulse the almonds in the processor until they are finely chopped and add to the bowl. (I left some bigger chunks so that the texture varied).  Next, pulse the shredded coconut for a few seconds and then add to bowl followed by the chia seeds and dried cranberries.  Work mixture together with your hands until it makes a sticky ball.  Line a 9×13 cookie sheet with parchment paper. Add mixture to parchment paper. Cover ball with another sheet of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to flatten the ball into about 1 1/2 inches. Place the flattened mixture into the freezer for 1 hour.  Cut the bars in individual bar size pieces, then frost.

 

For the frosting

 

Add the maple syrup to the blender first followed by the coconut oil and cocoa powder. Blend well until smooth and then spread desired amount onto each bar. 

After frosting, wrap each individual bar in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to a week.  They are now ready to eat!   (I'll tell your right now, they won't last that long!)
 

 

Amazingly delicious!!

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Join the discussion!

Do you have a favorite raw bar or granola bar recipe? We would love to hear what it is! Share it in the comments below. Links are welcome.

 



RAW ENERGY BAR WITH DATES AND APRICOTS

 

 

I really wish these bars would last longer when I make them.  Seriously,  they seem to disappear so quickly and probably so because I love giving these to friends to try.  So far, my first energy bar post has been the most popular.  You can find that recipe HERE. 

 

What I love about this recipe is that you can literally use any of your favorite nuts, dried fruits or even oatmeal and switch the recipe up to keep it interesting.  And this recipe is what we like to call super simple.

 



 

Here's the recipe...

 

RAW ENERGY BARS WITH DATE AND APRICOTS

Ingredients:

 

16 oz pitted dates
1 cup dried apricots

3/4 cup pepitas

3/4 cup cashews

1/4 cup macadamia nuts - optional
3 table spoons chia seeds

 

Note: You can also add 1/2 cup dried shredded coconut, which I think I am going to do next time.

Blend the dates and the apricots in the food processor until blended. It will be very, very sticky. Transfer it into a blow and then mix in all the other ingredients. Wet your hands slightly and knead and fold the ingredients togehter by hand. It will be tough but if you knead and fold it will eventually all be mixed togeher.

Tip, don't put in too many dry ingredients, it will make it more difficult to fold, mold and stick together.

Press the ball of ingredients into a wax paper lined 9" x 13" baking pan. Chill for 1 hour in the freezer and then cut into bars. I like to store these in the refrigerator, it keeps them at a nice firm consistency.

Voila!  I know you will love these and make them as much as I do.

Join the discussion!

Do you have a favorite energy or granola bar recipe? We would love to hear what it is! Share it in the comments below. Links are welcome.

 



GRANOLA CEREAL WITH STRAWBERRIES

I think of myself as a lazy vegan/raw foodist.  Living in a household where others have different dietary habits, I don’t always want to make a full on meal after a long day just for me.  So I get kind of lazy and make this cereal if i’m just not feeling like doing much or if i’m bored of smoothies.   Sometimes you just want a bowl of cereal, simple and uncomplicated!

 

I stumbled upon this as I was trying to make the energy bars Felicia posted about here.  It was kind of a disaster.  In the end my bars were mostly chunks and crumbs (I ran out of dates opps!)  I made about 2 gallons of energy crumbs!  So, I decided it would be my new cereal.

 

 

 

GRANOLA CEREAL WITH STRAWBERRIES

 

1 cup almond milk (or any other nut milk)

1 cup of strawberries (or whatever fruit you have available)

1/2 cup of energy bars
 

**Note: This cereal could be raw if you follow the recipe for the energy bars here.  Mine however were vegan since I used rolled oats. 

Break up the energy bar in a bowl.  Slice the strawberries and add them to the bowl.  Then pour the milk over it all et Voila! (I feel kind of silly giving directions to make cereal).

 

**Another variation I tried from Just Glowing With Health is to blend a cup of almond milk with a frozen banana in a high speed mixer.  This is a delicious variation,  and really the variations are endless, so have fun, there are no limits!

Is your mouth watering yet?

RAW: HOME MADE ENERGY BARS

  

I love these bars! These home made energy bars are so good, I make them just about every other week, if not every week.  The fabulous thing about this is that you can make many varieties by just switching out a few ingredients.  This recipe is super easy, so here it goes...

INGREDIENTS:

16 oz pitted dates (These were from Trader Joe's and I just used the whole package.)
1-1/2 cup dried cherries (If you buy them at Trader Joe's use the whole package.)

1/2 cup dried coconut

1/2 cup pepitas

1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup pistachios
3 table spoons chia seeds

Note:  I got all the ingredients at Trader Joes, all except for the coconut.  (I think we all need to write them to ask them to stock the coconut for us!)

Blend the dates and the cherries in the food processor until blended.  It will be very, very sticky.  Transfer it into a blow and then mix in all the other ingredients.  Wet your hands slightly and knead and fold the ingredients togehter by hand.  It will be tough but if you knead and fold it will eventually all be mixed togeher. 

Tip, don't put in too many dry ingredients, it will make it more difficult to fold and mold.

Press the ball of ingredients into a wax paper lined 9" x 13" baking pan.  Chill for 1 hour in the freezer and then cut into bars.  I like to store these in the refrigerator, it keeps them at a nice firm consistency.

Voila! 

I know you will love these and make them as much as I do.

Process pitted dates and cherries.

I love the information I found about dates at LIVESTRONG.COM... I think dates are my new favorite go to sweet treat.  Also, check out these nutritional points about dates if you need a little convincing.

Also, a side note about Chia Seeds, one tablespoon will give you 3 grams of protein, 6 grams of fiber, and 2.9 grams of omega-3 fatty acids.  What a powerful little seed!



Knead all ingredients together.

Press into 9" x 13" pan



Close Up...



So yummy!