No Bake Cashew Bar(Grain Free & Sugar Free)

I love all kinds of bars, baked, no bake. The best thing about these bars are you can put in any number of things, without any rules, bake them or refrigerate them. Cut them into bite size pieces and have one whenever you crave for anything sweet. This is a very easy to do recipe and very healthy too, with protein rich cashew and omega-3 and omega-6 rich chia and sweetened with the no cavity causing xylitol.



This bar recipe, I saw in a book in Barnes and Noble long time back. I don't even remember the book name and I modified it a lot based on what I had in hand. This is a very versatile recipe and you can substitute this with any nuts or nut butter you have in hand.



Preparation Time - 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - 2 Minutes

Serves - Makes around 2 dozen bars



Ingredients



Raw Cashews - 2 Cups



Powdered Chia - (1/2 Cup -2 Tbsp)



Grated Coconut - 1/2 Cup



Cashew Butter - 1/2 Cup



Coconut Oil or Clarified Butter(Ghee) - 1/4 Cup (Either one of them will work, if you don't like the flavor of coconut oil, substitute with Clarified butter)



Xylitol - 2 Tbsp or to taste



Toasted Sesame seeds - 2 Tbsp



Toasted Chia Seed - 2 Tbsp



Salt - 1/4 Tsp



Vanilla extract - 1/2 Tsp



Method



1) Take the cashews and make a coarse meal by placing that in a food processor.



2) To this add the powdered chia, grated coconut, cashew butter, xylitol,, salt and process for a few seconds.



3) Melt the oil/ghee(clarified butter - cassein free) till it is all liquid and switch off.



4) Grease a baking pan with few drops of oil/ghee and transfer the remaining ghee transfer it to the proccessed cashew, xylitol mixture. Add the toasted chia seeds, sesame seeds and you should be able to able to make a dough out of this mixture.



5) Using your hands take this dough and press evenly and firmly in the pan and refrigerate for 2  to 3 hours.



6) Once the bars harden, slice them and serve and remaining store them in the refrigerator. Keeps good in a refrigerator for atleast a week.

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No Bake Almond Date Energy Bar

Know what you Eat - Are you the kind of person who loves to snack on Energy, Granola or Cereal bar. Then try this easy to make energy bar and i doubt if you will go for the pricey bars at the store anymore. Filled with the goodness of Almonds, Dates, Coconut and Omega-3 rich Chia seeds and calcium rich Sesame seeds they are very easy to make, super nutritions and taste awesome without any additives.



Almonds are low in saturated fat and contain many other protective nutrients - protein, calcium and magnesium - for strong bones, vitamin E and compounds called phytochemicals, which may help protect against cardiovascular disease and even cancer. Dates are very good source of iron and one of the best natural sugar substitute anyone with a sweet tooth can go for. Chia seeds are very good source of Omega-3 fatty acids and sesame seeds are good source of calcium. The darker the seeds higher their nutrition profile is. Coconut is a good source of Iron, Vitamic C,  Protein and Calcium.



Who Should avoid Dates - Even though dates are very nutritious, large portion of its calories come from sugar. One pitted date contains 16gms of sugar, so if you are on a weight loss goal, portion this energy bar accordingly.



Cooking Time - 5 Mins

Preparation Time - 10 mins

Makes - 12-15 bars(depending on the thickness of the bar)



Ingredients



Toasted Almonds - 1 Cup

Dates - 3/4 cup Chopped and Packed

Grated and toasted Coconut - 1/4 cup

Chia Seeds - 3 Tbsp

Toasted Sesame Seeds - 2 Tbsp

Honey - 2 Tbsp



Method



1) Grind Chia Seeds into a fine powder.

2) Toast the Almonds for 5 mins in a toaster.

3) Now add Almonds, Coconut, Sesame seeds, dates (except for the honey) to the powdered chia.

4) In a food processor blend all the ingredients into fairly fine but still having some texture.

5) Add honey and process just long enough for it to blend in.

6) Press into a square about 3/4-inch thick on a plate or square pan and refrigerate for about an hour or more.

7) Cut into 2-inch squares and enjoy this guilt free snack.



Variations - You can use any combination of nuts also check out 10 Minute Peanut Raisin bars and No Bake Healthy Granola bars for other ideas.



Note - Since there is no baking involved, these bars will lose their shape when kept outside in very hot weather for a long time. When refrigerated they are good for atleast 2 weeks, they might be good even after that but it never lasts, no matter how much i make.



Event Participation



This goes straight to EC's WYF Time Snack.



Sending this to Food for 7 Stages of Life - Healthy Fast Food hosted by Radhika and Sudeshna.

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