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!
Marylyn, CT says
Last night I made vegetable quiche with the savory pie crust. It has become a family favorite! I have recommended your Almond Flour cookbook to my sister in NJ who in turn has recommended it to several of her friends. I am not surprised that the book has gone to a fifth printing! Thanks for all your recipes!
Andrea says
This looks amazing! I look forward to trying it!
Adrienne DeGuere says
This looks delicious, thank you!
Dee says
I love your recipes! I’ve gone primal in my eating and your web site has been a blessing in keeping my diet interesting! Thanks!
Cindy says
I am so glad I found your site! My son has Type 1 diabetes, and while he’s not gluten intolerant, the recipes with almond flour have a higher protein/lower carb content, not to mention they taste great and have more nutrition that typical white flour/white sugar recipes.
Thanks for your work!
Cindy
Lindsay says
I love your power bar recipes!
Pat says
Hi Elana!
These look absolutely wonderful.
Congrats on your 5th printing. I love your book and have recommended it on my website, on my blanched almond flour review page. I hope you check it out!
Pat
PS: I’m a friend of Sally Fenton’s and I hope to hook up with you when I’m out visiting my family in the Boulder area…
madeline gonzalez says
Oh wow. These look so good & we have plenty of dates too. Medjools are our favorites & we add them in our berry shakes. I would truely love to have a copy of your Cookbook w/ almond meal flour. We’re Almond-addicts :) We make the almond milk, at home, we make pancakes w/ almond flour, I even use it as a body scrub lol. We snack on almonds everyday & crush them in our salads.
Jessica says
I love that my kids will eat things like this! We’ll be trying them soon. Thanks Elana!
Cynthia M. says
Your power bar recipe looks wonderful – I especially love dates and dried cherries! And, it’s easy, too. I plan to try these soon.