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!
Jennifer says
Wow Elana – what a treasure trove of information and recipes your blog is. My nine-year old son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 11 months old and it is always a struggle to find good tasting, kid friendly food that is appealing. He is also deaf so sometimes it makes it even more difficult to explain the benefits of eating well to him. I have been so happy with all the yummy recipes I have reviewed on this site and just ordered some of the ingredients to start switching over to healthier eating. Thanks again for sharing all your discoveries and insights.
Kimberley says
Oh my goodness! Nobody around here had ever heard of chawanprash and we would get teased a lot for it as well! We used to bring back as much as we could afford when we went to a larger city center and could find it. Begged my dad to send it on the bus to us! My kids would eat it off of the spoon when they were little. We had to stop eating it because of the dairy ( I think) and I held a bottle in my hand just a couple of weeks back in an Indian market in the city. Reminiscing on that yummy flavour. I just made the bars… I used sour dried plums because that is all I had. They turned out so yummy and warming! Thank you so much for the recipe.
barb says
hi – i just made these as well but must have missed something – i used the specified amounts and the 8X8 pan but the bars came out super skimpy thin… (i.e. i pressed mixture just enough to fill pan and it barely did) seems like it would take a double recipe to make bars in an 8X8 pan as thick as the ones in the picture look.
any help on where i went wrong?
tx
Daniela says
These look delicious! I recently moved into my college dorm, and have been entertaining the girls on my floor with your delicious recipes. I will have to give these a try!
Stacey says
Can’t wait to try these!!! I eat, and sometimes make, a similar tasting treat everyday, but I like the addition of ginger and cardamom. Might add some coconut in there!!
Kirsten says
Hello Elana,
These look awesome. I love anything with nuts and dates- but I’m digging the idea of the ginger “kick”. This will go on my list!
Keri says
These sound fantastic! Can’t wait to try them out, especially as we ease into fall and the warming power of the ginger and other spices becomes even more powerful. Thanks for tinkering so I don’t have to!
Liz Dick says
I will absolutely try these bars. They sound delicious. I’m new to your site, and look forward to browsing the site for more delicious recipes.
Kristen says
These are so good! And easy! My two year old ate them up!
sarah says
Hi Elana,
I absolutely love your website! I just wanted to let you know that I made a batch of your chocolate chip cookies before my husband and I left for a 10 day trip in Europe. We rationed 2 cookies a day for our “tea time” and they lasted us the whole trip! We love them and are experimenting with different types (i.e adding cinnamon and peacans, etc). We are gluten free and processed sugar free so your website it a huge help.
Sarah
Lisa Vance says
I love your blog and recipes and hope to win the gift bag so I can have a copy of your cookbook!