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!
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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!
Kathy says
Recipe for power bars sounds great. Will try it soon. Cookbook would be an awesome addition to my kitchen. For all you do….Thank You!!
Andrew says
Hi, I made these spicy power bars with a few substitutions (prunes for dates/cranberries for cherries/pumpkin seeds for macadamia nuts) and for this household, we found the amount of cardamom way too strong and overbearing, and we enjoy our spicy Indian food. We ground our cardamom from the pods and maybe ours is stronger than already ground? I’d say 1/2 teaspoon would be plenty. – That said, we’re loving this site and these recipes!
Andrew says
I read recently when doubling any recipe, not to double up on the spices.
Patrick Nugent says
Hi Elana,
Your power bars sound great. I’ll be making them tomorrow.
Kavitha says
I tried this recipe. It tastes awesome, but it crumbled really easily even after I kept it in the refrigerator with some weights on it. However, I found that you can use it as great trail mix or if you still want the bar, wrap what sheets you can manage to lift (I used a spatula to lift them out) in aluminum foil and freeze them for a few days. The stickiness from the dried fruit helps bond the pieces together. Hope this helps!
elana says
Kavitha,
Thanks for your comment.
The dried fruit in this recipe serves as a binder. If your fruit is to dessicated, this recipe won’t work. If your bars are not holding together I would try adding one tablespoon of water to the recipe to see if this helps.
Please let me know how it goes.
Elana
Rachel Begun, The Gluten Free RD says
Made these today. They are delish and will last for a while. I’ve never been disappointed with your recipes. I make your recipes all the time and am always happy.
Denise says
What is Cardamon? Spice??
Kate Valiente says
I made this recipe over the weekend and I have a crumbly mess. My bars basically dissolve into a shower of bits as soon as I take a bite. What did I do wrong?
Barbara says
I’ve made these 3 times and love them. I did tweek it a little and used cloves instead of cardomom, as I didn’t have cardomom. It’s a great taste.
Connie Zinn says
When we make the breakfast bar it seem to be to crumbly. We follow the recipe but must be doing something wrong. Any hints? The bar is delicious and would like to make it again>
:D says
This reminds me of my favorite Larabar snack. I can’t wait to make this!
:D