goji-cacao-maca bars

Bridget is looking for ‘some sort of whole grain breakfast/snack bar’ and it just so happens that I have been munching on the very thing all week, and was going to post the recipe today anyway!! I just love when things come together.

Sooooo…. drum roll! This is Matthew Kenney’s recipe for super goji-cacao-maca bars from Everyday Raw. I’m stealing it verbatim, with my own personal commentary because I can’t help myself and it’s my blog :) Luckily for me, recipes are not covered by copyright but that’s not the reason I feel ok about sharing… I like to share because I hope people will go out and buy the books I love! Give something, get something. It’s good karma.

So back to the story. These things rock! Nutritionally dense and not too sweet. Perfect for breakfast or a cheeky on-the-run / mid-afternoon pick-me-up, or both – thank you Matthew Kenney, I love you already and we haven’t even met yet.

Don’t get put off by the ingredient list or the quantities of some not cheap ingredients – I got so many bars out of this I may almost get sick of them by the time I finish them all!! And because I love you all, I’ll share my super duper storage tip: I bought the cute little snack-size zip lock bags and packaged them individually so I cab grab them as I run out the door.

Ingredients

• 4 3/4 cups almond crumbs (6-7 cups of raw, un-soaked almonds ground in a food processor)
• 2 cups cashew pieces
• 1 cup hemp seeds
• 1/2 cup golden flax seeds, soaked for two hours and drained – they won’t drain bone dry but the moisture is needed to hold it all together
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract – I used vanilla powder which worked too
• 1 tsp lemon zest – I upped this a little bit (by accident at the time) but it worked out well, adding some zing!
• 1 3/4 cup raw agave (Matthew suggests adding more if you want a sweeter, softer bar but I actually added a little less)
• 1/4 cup maca – I didn’t have any so used some mesquite instead – I think you can take liberties with recipes like these :)
• 1/2 cup raw cacao nibs
• 1/2 cup goji berries, soaked for no more than 15 minutes – these are essential!
• Sweet Cacao Sauce (recipe provided below)

Instructions

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until combined. Spread in a shallow tin and press down firmly. Dehydrate overnight. Turn out on to cutting board, trim edges and cut in to bars. Glaze with the Sweet Cacao Sauce, return to dehydrator screens and dehydrate overnight.

Sweet Cacao Sauce

• 1 1/2 cups raw cacao nibs
• 1 1/4 cups raw agave
• 1/2 cup coconut oil

Blend in your blender until completely smooth. Matthew has a pretty picture of the sauce on the bars in perfectly spaced lines (you are supposed to store it in a squeeze bottle), but I didn’t have one so just kind of slathered it all over them! Yum.

xx

Guide: raw vegan | whole food, plant based | gluten-free | soy-free