Raw Bars

I absolutely love raw bars. I love the gooey texture of the dates, the crunchiness of the nuts and seeds and the taste of all the raw, healthy and delicious things all in one compact bar! One of my favorite treats is Whole Food's Organic Raw Cacao Goji Berry Energy squares. You can get them at Whole Foods in the self service bins that have all of the loose seeds, grains, and nuts. These goji squares have such a good flavor and are a great little 1 Point Plus per piece pick me up! I usually get them right from the store but I found a website that sells them too:
Organic Raw Cacao Goji Berry Energy Squares

My family's and my own health are always on my mind! I really want my husband and myself to lead a healthy lifestyle and when we have children, I want them to be healthy as well. One of the five year old girls in my class told me that she had never even tasted McDonald's. Her mom told her that the food is gross and unhealthy. This little girl's mother home cooks everything for her and it is some of the healthiest food I have ever seen. I would love it if I could get to that place in my life where I could eliminate all of the junk food and just eat raw, healthy foods all of the time. When I have my own kids one day, that is what I want for them!

So, this weekend I decided to try my hand at making raw bars! I looked in my pantry and took out all of the items I thought would taste good mixed in a compact little square and I am very happy with the results! These bars taste sweet, have a smooth, gooey texture and are so simple to make! Essentially, you just throw all of the ingredients in the food processor and let it do the work The best part is that my husband loves them too! This recipe makes 10 servings for only 2 Points Plus per piece. Next time I will double the recipe! Enjoy!

12 dates (pitted)
1/4 cup raw almonds
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon organic black chia seeds
2 tablespoons raw honey
1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
dash of salt

I used whole almonds so first I put those in the food processor to chop them up into pieces, then I added the dates and let it turn into a thick paste. Next I added the seeds, salt, honey, and peanut butter and let them all blend together well. The mixture should be very thick and gooey. I used a spatula to scrape it out of the processor and press it into a small glass dish lined with parchment paper. Spread the mixture evenly in the pan and press it down well. Put it in the refrigerator to firm up a bit, cut it into 10 squares and eat!

*UPDATE: The texture of these bars is very smooth and gooey. I just made another batch except this time I pulsed all the ingredients at one time together in the food processor rather then processing the nuts & seeds 1st to get smaller pieces, then just letting the processor mix it all. If you put all the ingredients together at once and just pulse it, the texture will be rougher like you see in the goji squares. You could see and crunch into the actual seeds/nuts rather then just having them all pureed together. Both taste great... it just depends on your texture preference!

Organic Raw Cacao Goji Berry Energy Squares from Whole Foods

My own homemade raw bars!

The 2nd batch of my own homemade raw bars!