By the time February rolls around, my hunch is that most of us could use a little extra tlc.
Not that there’s anything wrong with the soul crushing depths of winter, plenty of notable Pisces have emerged from the doldrums: Chopin, Renoir, Michelangelo, Ginsburg, Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell, and Justin Bieber (nuff said).
Still, a little flash of color goes a long way to spark some happy during the season of snow, rain and cold.
Have you worked with freeze dried berries before? These raspberries are so good — the flavor really comes through in an unexpected, at least to me, kind of way.
For those of you who like making your own energy bars, and sharing your experiments, (I love hearing from you by the way), this one’s a goodie!
All the protein and fiber rich nuts & seeds you crave intermingled with fruit, to bring just the right touch of sweet. The crumble factor can be an issue with homemade bars but I found these held together pretty well with the help of the date paste. The cherries I used were a little big; I’d probably sub cranberry next time (although I do love the sweet-tart taste of cherry so no big regrets). Perfect for a morning grab-n-go, to refuel after a workout or with your afternoon cuppa.
If you give them a try, I’d love to hear how it goes! Details and info in the Notes section of the recipe card to guide you to best results. Enjoy.
- 1+1/2 cups (130 g) old fashioned rolled oats (or quick cooking oats), certified gluten free as required
- 1 cup (125 g) walnuts, chunky pieces
- ½ cup (140 g) whole almonds
- ⅓ cup (40 g) pumpkin seeds/pepitas
- ⅓ cup (50 g) dried cherries (or other)
- ¼ cup (40 g) chia seeds
- couple shakes of cinnamon (1/2 tsp ish)
- 1 cup (250 g) smooth almond butter (no sugar/salt added)
- ⅓ cup (112 g) date paste
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- ⅓ cup (about 7 g) freeze dried raspberries
- The date paste is sold in block form; it is very sticky and fairly rigid. Best to soak briefly in hot water to soften.
- Place ⅓ cup date paste (about 112 g) in a bowl and pour enough boiling water over to cover (I boiled in kettle), allowing it to sit for about 10 minutes while you prep other ingredients.
- Place the first seven ingredients (oats to cinnamon) together in a large bowl, mixing to combine.
- Remove date paste from water and transfer to a small blender (or processor) along with 2 Tbsp of the water. Add the almond butter and maple syrup and blend until smooth (it might end up in a sticky ball, which is fine).
- Transfer the date paste/nut butter mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and, using your hands (really the best way), mix together to fully integrate. The mixture should be sticky and hold together when you bunch it - if it's too dry, it won't adhere well as a bar (you could add a touch more almond butter or date paste to consistency).
- Lay a fitted piece of parchment paper into an 8" x 8" pan such that the paper hangs over the edges (you will lift these overhangs to remove slab once cold).
- Place the mixture in the prepared pan, pressing down firmly with palm of hands (or mini-roller if you have one) distributing as evenly and smoothly as possible.
- Sprinkle the surface with freeze dried raspberries if using (you can crumble and/or leave some larger pieces as you wish) pressing down so that the berry pieces stick to the surface. You can sprinkle a few more pieces on top or on plate when serving to decorate, if you like.
- Allow pan to sit in freezer for approximately 1 hour.
- Remove pan from freezer. Remove singular slab from pan by lifting up on paper. Set slab down and gently peel paper away. Slice slab diagonally into 6 (or so) long bars with the help of a large knife and then cut each long bar in half or 3 pieces to create individual bars.
- These bars do best in the freezer. Once cut, simply store in the freezer in a sealed container and enjoy whenever -- they never fully freeze so they're ready to eat within a few minutes of coming out of the freezer.
Date Paste: I purchased a 16 oz date paste by Royal Palm (no sugar added) on Amazon. You could also use pitted dates to create the paste (with same softening/blending procedure set out in recipe).
Substitutions & Deletions: you can substitute any nut/seed of choice (or nut/seed butter) or dried fruit (ex: sliced dried apricot, dried cranberry, dried blueberry, raisin, fig, etc) or freeze dried strawberries instead of raspberries. However if you remove ingredient classes without replacing them, (or change the wet/dry ratio), these bars will not work in the same way.
Freeze Dried Berries: I purchased the freeze dried raspberries at Whole Foods (1 oz bag/365 brand).
You don't have to top with berries: the berries are fun, colorful and tasty, but you can omit them and the bars will still work great!
Oats & Gluten: oats by nature are gluten free however many commercially sold oats do contain gluten due to cross-contamination issues. Be sure to seek out certified gluten-free oats, as required.
Sodium: I used salted pumpkin seeds and salted whole almonds; I mention it because it does add some flavor to the bars.
Storage: these bars don't do as well outside the freezer but you could use travelling/lunchbox ice packs to keep them together somewhat.
I’ve made granola many times, but never energy bars, even though I tell myself all of the time that I need to make them. Yours are so gorgeous with the freeze dried raspberries I’m not sure if I’ll be able to resist them. Love all of the nuts and fruits flavors and the date paste is an interesting addition. Have never used that before, but then I always have dates in the pantry. Great source of potassium. These would be a great lunch for me since I usually just nibble on a healthy snack at lunch. Thanks for sharing Kelly!
Wow, these energy bars look intense! And filling!
yep, intense and filling pretty much capture it :D — thanks for stopping by!
These bars look extraordinary! The colours are so beautiful I can almost smell the raspberry aroma…though I admit I’ve never tasted the freeze-dried form. It’s such a wise way to add some of the summer joy to a winter sweet treat! Wait, and there’s no chocolate inside??? I was certain it was chocolate that gave this dark brown hue. Amazing!
haha, it does look like chocolate (and what a combo choco/rasp is) but it’s the luxurious date paste:) i loved working with it in this recipe; the freeze-dried raspberries are a happy surprise – the flavor really comes thru (not just a pretty face! :d) thanks for your kind words Sissi.
These are the absolute prettiest bars I’ve seen. You definitely have my curiosity piqued on the freeze-dried berries. They look like they might make great travel-food. The combination of the nuts and seeds sound and look wonderful.
Aww, thanks Eva, the colour brings a smile; the bars do great in the freezer but not as great on the road — ice packs help keep them together somewhat but they don’t have the same shelf life as commercial bars that way, unfortunately. I think you’d have lots of fun discovering the freeze dried berries – the flavour is more intense than I would have guessed; worth investigating :)
this just in… made with fresh raspberries ✨
https://imgur.com/a/577CUu7
Justin Bieber lol girl you make me smile. Nothing but good things in these bars and they’re gorgeous too!
haha, it was a tossup between the Biebs and Steve Jobs for the last spot (couldn’t very well exclude a national treasure ;d)
Yummy, these look delicious! Love the grab’n go idea, very practical when we’re on the run. I like how you incorporated the vibrant red for Valentine’s, nice touch!
thank you Lynn! yes, so nice to have a batch in the freezer; great little nibble that packs a punch :) tasty too!
OH, the pain… the sadness… the sorrow…
braces and bars are not a match made in heaven, so I stare at the gorgeous photos in your post, and sob a little inside…
one year into the brace-journey, one more to go (sigh)
hang in there beauty! x
Can I say, just looking at these bars makes me smile. -33 today in Alberta, Canada. Just made a similar granola bar for some skiing next weekend of Family Day (a holiday that is well received). But wish I had seen your post first. Will try soon and love the freeze dried raspberries idea💋❤️💋
oh my goodness, that’s cold… my tolerance has dropped a few notches since leaving the arctic ;o I miss family day! (the 18th is a holiday here too; different one) — over 6 feet of fresh fallen snow in Tahoe!! (i feel an impromptu ski weekend coming on:)) x
These look incredible!! Don’t have the paste but will use pitted dates as you suggest.
thank you so much! yes, pitted dates are perfect here just be sure to soften them beforehand — you’ll want to have a third cup pureed dates before adding the nut butter. Hope you love the bars :)