I Love This Bar
I am a huge fan of power bars. Kind, Kashi, Cliff, RX, Lara -- yes, please.
They're quick and easy ways to pack in a few more grams of protein and, obviously, instrumental in beating junk food cravings at 3:30 in the afternoon when literally all you've ever wanted in your entire life is a bag of chocolate covered potato chips.
But they're not perfect. All the good ones are expensive, and a lot of varieties still have tons of added sugars. No bueno.
So I took it upon myself to make some new bars -- ones where all the ingredients were identifiable. And not to brag, but they came out GREAT. They're awesome for a snack or as part of a breakfast (they won't fill you up enough to keep you going for too long, so eat them with something else high in fiber like fresh fruit or whole grain toast. Or both).
Plus, because I had a food processor at my disposal, I didn't almost start an electrical fire like the last time I tried to make power bars. These come together pretty quickly, but be patient. I had to keep the Cuisinart going for a few minutes until the almonds and sunflower seeds started to break down.
In that same vein, this is a super malleable recipe. Feel free to change the spices or the fruit itself. It's hard to find dried cherries with no sugar added, but this would still be delicious with apricots or even unsulfured dried peaches (which you can find at Trader Joe's AKA the Elysian Fields). The powdered ginger in these makes the decently spicy, which I really like, but you can also feel free to tone that down.
These come out a little crumbly, so you might have to re-shape the bars once you've cut them. They'll keep, in a tightly sealed container, for about 2 weeks.
Ingredients:
2 c. dried cherries
1 c. raw almonds
1 c. raw, unsalted sunflower seeds
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. powdered ginger
1 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor or high powered blender. Grind until a sticky paste forms, about 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Press into an even layer in an 8x8 glass baking dish and refrigerate until hardened, or about 3 hours. Cut into squares and reserve to a tightly sealed container.
