(For another raw vegan treat, check out my recipe for raw nectarine dream cookies!)

Oooooo! These are so good!

I just love the combination of orange and pistachio together! These bars are so soft and citrusy, they remind me a bit of lemon Larabars, and yet they’re totally different from any Larabar I’ve ever had.

Here’s what you’ll need for these little emerald gems:

• 3/4 cup raw cashews
• 3/4 cup raw pistachios
• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1 tsp. agave nectar
• 1 tsp. coconut oil
• 1 tsp. chia seeds
• zest and juice of a small orange such as a clementine or satsuma
• desiccated coconut for dusting

Start by pulverizing the nuts in a food processor…

Then add the chopped apricots…

Then grate over the orange zest and add the remaining ingredients…

Blitz it til it pulls away from the sides and looks fully incorporated…

So green!

Now you need to mold it into bars. I lined a loaf pan with wax paper to help pull the bars out with later and then poured some desiccated coconut in the bottom so they wouldn’t stick to that.

It took a while to press it all out flat in the pan, just keep working at it until you get it to reach the edges.

My loaf pan was just a bit too big so these didn’t quite make it all the way to one side. After spreading it out I topped it off with more coconut.

These should get popped in the freezer for a while to make them easier to cut. I chose to cut mine into little squares.

They are delicious! The bright orange flavor really stands out and contrasts with the earthy and slightly bitter green pistachio flavor. They taste so springy and fresh!

I’ve been keeping them in the fridge since they have orange juice in them that could go bad if left out. It also helps them to hold together better being that they’re very soft at room temperature. They are even more refreshing nice and cool right out of the fridge anyway.

Raw vegan orange pistachio bars

Bright citrusy orange zest accents these nutty raw pistachio bars.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Yield: about 10 squares

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup cashews
• 3/4 cup raw pistachios
• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1 tsp. agave nectar
• 1 tsp. coconut oil
• 1 tbsp. chia seeds
• zest and juice of a small orange such as a clementine or satsuma

Cooking Directions

1. Pulverize nuts in food processor until very small.
2. Add all other ingredients and pulse to incorporate.
3. Press mixture into a wax paper lined baking dish with desiccated coconut.
4. Sprinkle more desiccated coconut on top and press in lightly.
5. Freeze until firm then turn out and cut into squares or bars.
6. Keep refrigerated.

What is your favorite snack bar/granola bar/protein bar?

March 8, 2011 Alayna Discussion, Recipes 20 comments

I have been trying for over a year now to make Jeff some oats and honey flavored granola bars from scratch. Every time something goes wrong; I either burn them, they never bake in the middle, or they just fall apart.

This time, they just fell apart.

It was ok though! I tasted the oat crumbles and was completely in love with it as an unintentional granola.

Lemme show you what I did and what I came out with…

For the almond butter and honey oat granola I used:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup oat bran
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/8 cup honey

Start by toasting the oats and oat bran in a dry pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Keep stirring almost continuously so that nothing burns.

Microwave almond butter and honey together in a bowl for 40 seconds, stir, then heat for another 10 seconds and stir again.  Pour this over the toasted oats in a large bowl and mix together completely.

Line a loaf pan with wax paper and pour the mixture in.

Press mixture firmly into the loaf pan. I used the bottom of a drinking glass to really smash it down into the bottom of the pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

At this point I wanted to get it out of the hot pan so it wouldn’t continue to cook the bottom and edges, so I pulled it out and placed it on a cooling rack.

You can see that it started to crack and crumble immediately. I tasted a corner and it was really yummy though, so granola it is!

Here it is cooled and crumbled up, ready to top yogurt, cereal, ice cream, whatever…

I had some this morning over strawberry yogurt with bananas on top. The combination of the fruity yogurt and the almond-buttery granola reminded me of a classy PB&J sandwich!

I think if I were to make this again I could skip pressing it into a pan (since I’m not aiming to make it into bars) and just crumble it over a sheet pan and bake it for less time, maybe 10 minutes should do it. It’s certainly a very simple granola to make with only four ingredients.

Almond butter and honey oat granola

Super-fast honey oat granola recipe with the rich roasted flavor of almond butter.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Yield: About 2 cups

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup oat bran
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/8 cup honey

Cooking Directions

1. Toast oats and oat bran in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring almost continuously.
2. Microwave honey and almond butter together for 40 seconds, stir, then another 10 seconds.
3. Pour melted almond butter and honey over oats in a large bowl and mix well.
4. Either serve as is or bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees for extra crunchiness.

In your opinion, what makes the perfect granola?

February 26, 2011 Alayna Discussion, Recipes 4 comments

I realize that this is a recipe that would have made a lot of sense to post on or before Valentine’s Day, as it would make for an easy but decadent treat to whip up for your sweetheart.

I assure you though, these little beauties are just too good to relegate to but one day of the year.

Now, I am typically not a jam-lover. I will choose the “quadruple-chocolate white chocolate chip with macadamia nuts and lugnuts and madness cookie” any day over some ole’ jam-studded thumbprint cookie. But for a tart, well to me a tart needs fruits to really be a very good tart at all, and so for these sweet little tart babies, only jam would do.

You can’t very well have a tart without a crust though! I made this simple rawish chocolate crust pretty quickly in my food processor:

• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1/2 cup raw almonds
• 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. cocoa powder
• 1 and 1/2 tsp. agave nectar
• 1 and 1/2 tsp. chocolate almond butter
• 1 tsp. coconut butter
• less than a pinch of salt

Just blitz the nuts first til they’re teeny, then add everything else and blitz again.

I used a mini muffin pan to mold my tart shells. First, I sprayed the pan with non-stick spray then added little strips of wax paper to the bottom so that I could use them to pull the completed tart shells out later.

I put heaping spoonfuls of the mix into each cup and came up with enough for 14 shells. Just press the mix tightly into the bottoms and press up the sides, then press around the tops to make them smoother. Make sure to press them very tightly so they hold together.

A little dollop of jam goes in each, then a bit of chocolate almond spread tops it off.

I used Crofter’s jam and the same MaraNatha spread that I used in the crust (and on my toast some mornings.)

Biting into one of these for the first time had my eyes rolling back into my head!

Sooooooo…..insane!

I started off wanting to make a raw dessert but the almond butter and jam are not raw ingredients.

You could absolutely make a raw dessert out of this though by filling the cups with something like mashed bananas with cinnamon or maybe a raspberry cashew cream. You’d need to replace the chocolate almond butter in the crust too, not sure what I’d use there though.

Raw or not, I’m really proud of these.

No-bake chocolate jam tarts

Simple chocolate jam tarts in easy molded no-bake shells.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Yield: About 14 tarts

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup raw almonds
• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1 and 1/2 tsp. agave nectar
• 1 and 1/2 tsp. chocolate almond butter
• 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. coconut butter
• less than a pinch of salt
• jam and chocolate almond butter for filling

Cooking Directions

1. Pulverize nuts in food processor.
2. Add other ingredients and pulse to incorporate.
3. Mold crusts in a mini muffin pan and set in freezer to harden.
4. Fill with jam and top with chocolate almond butter.
5. Store in refrigerator.

What kind of filling would you use in these little tarts?

February 19, 2011 Alayna Discussion, Recipes 13 comments