I’m eating one of these Spicy Power Bars as I type this. I’m slightly obsessed with them. Because they remind me of my past.
About 20 years ago, when I was living in New York City and had just hooked up with my adorable husband, I became very interested in Ayurveda. One of the amazing practitioners that I learned from, Pratima Raichur, had created her own version of a healing tonic, referred to in Ayurvedic circles as chyawanprash. Her product was called Bindi Chywangrans and it was delicious. My friends used to ask me what it was and I would tell them it was a special, healing, energy supplement. They teased me a lot about it!
Fast forward to the present. About a month ago, I found some interesting looking energy bars in downtown Boulder. I bought one and ate it. It kept reminding me of a taste from my past, though I could not quite put my finger on it. Finally, I realized that this bar tasted like Bindi!
Being the tinkerer that I am, I decided I would recreate the Nude Nutritionals Food Bars to taste even more Chwanpransh-like and my bindi bars were born thanks to Pratima (owner of Tej Clinic) and Nude Nutritionals (creator of the fabulous little grab and go bar).
Here’s my recipe for a super nourishing, delicious, tri-doshic power bar.
Spicy Power Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup almonds
- 1 cup macadamia nuts
- 1 cup dates (remove pits)
- 1 cup dried cherries
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
Instructions
- Place nuts, dates and cherries in a food processor, pulse until well ground
- Pulse in vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and salt
- Remove mixture from food processor and press into a 8 x 8 inch baking dish
- Refrigerate overnight (6-8 hours)
- Cut into squares and serve
Note: You may want to try my other Power Bar recipe made with almonds!
Update: several readers have commented below that this recipe was not yielding enough to fill the bottom of an 8×8 baking dish. I remade this again today and realized that I needed to double everything, so that it filled up the entire pan –when I was testing this recipe I was smooshing different batches of each version into half a pan. So, you will find that every ingredient has doubled (except for the vanilla). Sorry for the mixup! (This is what happens when you write recipes at 2am!)
I found out only yesterday that my book is now in its 5th printing just about a year after publication. Over on Amazon.com I have received quite varied reviews and I appreciate them all 94 of them, especially this one. If you’d like to add your two cents to the conversation, head on over to Amazon.com and leave a review. It doesn’t matter how many stars you give me, what’s important is to join the chat. Thanks everyone!
Katie Bottoms says
I wondered what the nutritional value is? Calories? Fat? I only ask because these look and sound wonderful, I LOVE dates but know they have a lot of calories in them. I need to do portion control… :-)
carrie @ gingerlemongirl.com says
I’d love to win the package, just to give to a friend who has just started the gf diet and needs a reassurance! Your easy & healthy recipes have been so perfect for me and helped me so much along the way!! Congrats on the fifth printing! Now, I want to run home and check out which printing my book is… I’m pretty sure it’s the first! :-)
Deborah says
We will be trying these!!! We are snack bar addicts and have a hard time finding something we like (and can eat). As soon as we settle on something, the mainstream grocery stores we frequent discontinue it! So frustrating. I hadn’t even considered making our own, but why not! These look just like our most recent favorite (recently discontinued) bars! Would love to win your latest giveaway – but finding your book and getting ideas and recepies made us winners months ago!!! Thanks!
Rachel Wendt says
I’m always on the lookout for healthy, delicious power bar recipes–for breakfast on the go or a quick pick me up mid-day. I love the combination of spices for this recipe. I’m vegetarian, but always interested in good vegan recipes!
penny says
Yum, thank you so much for this recipe and for everything you do for us!
Babs says
These look wonderful and love all the ingredients, except the dates. I am not a date fan. Do you think this would work with figs? Or what would you suggest? Have you tried other dried fruit in it’s place?
Jennifer Stephenson says
I would love to win your giveaway today.Love your site; have an auto-immune disease and it has been an encouragement to me to stay creative and be hopeful!
VeggieGirl says
I follow a lot of Ayurvedic principles – I’m a vata, through and through.
LOVE the sound of those bars! Great ingredients. You never cease to amaze me with your stellar recipes, dear Elana.
Bobbie Wang says
i’m a huge fan of your website and love that you create vegan desserts. i have a crazy sweet tooth and i just recently became a pescatarian that doesn’t eat dairy or eggs so i’ve been super depressed because most desserts contain them. thanks to you, i can now make vegan desserts and have new seafood recipes! i’ve been going through your blog page by page and, thankfully, you have so many posts that i haven’t reached the end yet. happy friday!
Nadia says
Hello! I have recently adopted the same diet!! What might we call ourselves? Not quite vegan, somewhat paleo pescetarians?
Lori Pelkey says
These look wonderful! I’m going to try them with my own low-heat dried cherries!