One of the most convenient and popular food items is a snack bar of some sort such as nut, fruit, seed or cereal. Many of the commercial varieties are loaded with sugar, refined flour and other not-so-desirable ingredients . Fruit, nut, granola bars are quite easy to make and you can put ingredients to your taste and make them healthy.
The thing I like about making my own energy bars is that I can disguise healthy powders such as maca, matcha, cacao and fruit powders which give the bars distinct colour and flavour while increasing the nutritional profile to the next level.
These bars can be made chewy or crunchy to taste. I love the chewiness and intense flavour of dried fruits and the crunch of the roasted nuts. You can reduce or increase the ratio of fruits and nuts to you taste. Dates and figs form a good base to hold all the dry ingredients such as nuts and cereals together. When varying ratios ensure there is enough of the dried fruits to bind everything nicely. For baked bars flax or chia eggs do a good job. Roasting the nuts yield crunchy bars, an all time winner!
Toss in your gym bag or freeze your homemade creations with a variety of nuts, seeds, fruit, and grains or pack the freshly made bars in a Ziploc bag for a portable breakfast or mid-morning snack, unlimited possibilities!
Most of the homemade bars keep in air tight containers for weeks but trust me they will not last that long. This particular bar is beautiful frozen especially in the hot weather when everything seems to be sticky.
Flavours can be modified to taste. I have tried cardamom, rosewater and vanilla separately. My favourite is the cardamom because I love it in tea and all types of desserts.
My family is so fond of them, they eat them for breakfast, snack and dessert.
Pistachio Fig Energy Bars
Ingredients
- 10 dried figs soaked for 20 minutes
- 10 medjool dates soaked 20 minutes
- 1 cup pistachios or assorted nuts almonds, walnuts, macadamias, cashews work well
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
- ¼ cup cranberries
- 4 tbsp almond meal
- 1 ½ tsp coconut oil
- 2 tsp poppy seeds
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
Instructions
- Dry roast the nuts in a non-stick pan on medium heat. Chop them into small pieces once cooled
- Drain figs and dates well and blitz them in food processor into a paste
- Heat coconut oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat, add figs and date paste and cook it stirring continuously until it forms a sticky paste. Turn down the heat to lowest setting.
- Add chopped roasted nuts, pepitas, cranberries and poppy seeds and stir until all combined.
- Transfer the mixture to a greased tray or parchment paper lined tray.
- Press it into a 20mm thick slab. Freeze for 2 hours.
- Cut into square pieces and keep in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 4 months
- Note: you can also make balls or cut them into any desired shape but keep it in the fridge for a nice chewy crunchy texture.
Remember to leave comments my beautiful friends
