I brought 3 cartons of Cherry Pie Lärabars to Germany with me and I am down to my last one… For those of you who don’t know Lärabars, they’re vegan and gluten free energy bars made with just a few simple ingredients, in this case, dates, dried cherries and almonds, and they’re so good.
But I’ve taken matters into my own hands and made an even better version: The g&b Tart Cherry Nut Bar! This one also has dates and dried cherries, but I’ve upped the game with a mix of almonds, cashews, pepitas, a dash of cinnamon and an optional topping of coconut flakes.
Sweet, a bit tangy, crunchy, HEALTHY and utterly delicious, I will never buy another energy bar again.
These are very easy to make. It helps to have a silicone cereal bar mold, but you can also roll the mixture into balls and enjoy them like that.
Happy weekend, everyone!
xoxo Donata
Ingredients
Makes 8-10 bars
1 cup soft, pitted dates
1 cup dried, unsweetened cherries
1/4 cup roasted, unsalted cashews
1/4 cup raw hulled pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/4 cup roasted whole almonds
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes as garnish (optional)
Tools needed: silicone cereal bar molds (my molds were 9 x 2,5 cm)
You can also roll the mixture into balls if you don’t have a mold.
Preparation
Place the cashews, pepitas, almonds and cinnamon in a small food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. If you prefer smaller nut pieces, pulse longer. Remove and place in a large bowl.
Place the dates and dried cherries in the food processor and pulse until everything is finely chopped and begins to clump together. Dump the date mixture into the bowl with the nuts. Mix everything together with your hands (I used disposable gloves for this as it’s very sticky!) until the nuts mixture is fully incorporated.
Smoosh the mixture into the cereal molds, making sure to press it into the corners. Refrigerate overnight.
Carefully remove the bars from the mold and wrap them in wax paper.
These will keep for two to three weeks in the fridge.
