Raw Vegan Energy Bars

Lately, I have been doing a lot of experimenting with raw energy bars in my home kitchen.

The first time I tried a bar that didn’t contain any added sweeteners besides dried fruit, or any added fat other than nuts, it was quite a revelation to me. Who knew something could taste so good without all that extra stuff?

Even without added sweeteners or fats, energy bars (as delicious and totally good for you as they can be) do contain quite a bit of, well, energy. They are probably not something you want to munch on all day long, and are perhaps best thought of as lunchbox treats, post-workout fuel or (my personal favourite) portable sustenance for travel or long hikes.

There is of course an ever-growing selection of ready-made bars on the market. However, in comparison to making the same thing at home, those bars are quite expensive, many contain additional (and in my view unnecessary) sweeteners like agave, and often have a strange, gooey texture that I personally am not a fan of. I like my bars sticky and crunchy!

Luckily, home-made raw bars are super quick to make, create very little kitchen mess and can be varied endlessly with whatever ingredients you like and have on hand: nuts, seeds, dried fruit and veg, grains and various flavourings or even protein powders. Experiment away! There are also lots of great recipes online, and many recipes for energy balls or “bliss balls” can be turned into bars too.

Just remember that if, like me, you would like to avoid adding fats or sweeteners to hold the bars together, you will need at least one sticky ingredient, like dates. (Other dried fruits can work too, but I’ve never found one that works quite as well as dates, so even when using something else like dried apricots I usually still add a few of them.)

Here is one of my family’s favourite recipes for a vegan raw bar with crunchy nuts and seeds, goji berries and raw cacao for a nice chocolatey boost!

(Please note that as I use a mini food-processor, I make my bars in small batches. This recipe is suitable for a loaf pan measuring approximately 4×8 inches. If you’d like to use something like an 8×8 inch cake pan, please double the recipe or the bars will turn out too thin.)

Raw Vegan Energy Bars

Ingredients

• 100g cashew nuts
• 50g almonds
• 10g dried goji berries
• 10g pumpkin seeds
• 100g medjool dates, pitted and coarsely chopped
• 10g raw cacao powder
• Pinch of ground pink Himalayan rock salt
• 1 tbsp water

Method

• Prepare the pan by lining it with parchment paper or plastic wrap.
• Start with the toughest ingredients (almonds, cashews, goji berries and pumpkin seeds) and mix them together in a food processor or mini chopper until they are crumbled but not powdery.
• Add the dates, cacao powder and salt to the processor and run it again until everything is chopped into a fine crumble. (You may choose to leave the salt until after step 5, and instead sprinkle it over the pressed-down mixture in the pan. Press down on the salt gently so it sticks to the surface. This gives the bars a more distinctly salty-sweet taste and also looks pretty.)
• Add the water and run the processor again briefly to make the mixture sticky and “doughy”. (It should start to form a big lump in the processor, but if it doesn’t, you can try adding a touch more water.)
• Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and press it down evenly. (You will want to press firmly and repeatedly with your fingers or the back of a spoon until the mixture is a flat and hard layer at the bottom of the pan.)
• Cover the pan and leave in the refrigerator for at least one hour before cutting. The easiest way to cut is to lift the whole thing out of the pan, still in the plastic wrap or parchment paper, and transfer it carefully to a cutting board. Cut into desired bar sizes with a sharp knife to avoid breaking and crumbling.

Enjoy, perhaps with a nice glass of kombucha!