It is definitely a sign that finals for the semester are
over when you 1) have way more time and 2) get to blog again!
I recently came across a recipe for protein bars, that was
originally from the “Heal Your Gut” cookbook, which is yummy and actually works!
(Yay for the last one). This recipe is pretty easy and tasty- though it is best
straight out of the freezer. The ingredients are all pretty good for you and
there is no baking- so the benefit of raw ingredients is not lost.
Prep Time: 10 minutes Ready: 1 to 2 hours
Dry Ingredients:
2-2 ½ cups of almonds and pecans
1-1
½ cups of flax, sunflower and pumpkin seeds
1 cup of shredded coconut
½ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients:
½ cup coconut oil
1-2
teaspoons vanilla
¼ cup honey
Put the dry ingredients in your blender. (We have a Vitamix
and it does a wonderful job blending up everything. The blender will turn the
dry ingredients into almost a flour, so if you prefer more chunks in your bars,
you may want to stop blending while there are still chunks of nuts.) Blend
until fine – you may have to turn off the blender and stir the ingredients
around a couple times as the nuts are pretty oily and tend to cake up at the
bottom. Transfer the ingredients to a mixing bowl.
Melt the coconut oil over a low heat and turn off. Add ¼ cup
honey and vanilla. Then pour into the mixing bowl. Mix together the dry and wet
ingredients (since the coconut oil is in liquid form, the mixture will probably
look a little wet).
Grease an 8x8 pan thoroughly. Transfer the mixture into the
pan and smooth. Place in the freezer until almost completely solid.
Meanwhile, you can mix up a yummy chocolate spread made out
of 1 to 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, several tablespoons cocoa powder and honey
until you reach desired sweetness.
After the bars have set up for a while, spread the chocolate
across the bars and return to the freezer. Allow the bars to set for another
hour or so- then remove, cut up, place in a container and put back in the
freezer.
