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!
Kristina @ Cucina Kristina says
I made these last week and cannot stop eating them! They are so, so, so, so, SO good! Thanks for the recipe! xoxo
Greg says
Does a food processor work differently than a blender?
I tried mixing this up in my blender with no success, so I. Had to add some. Water. This made a very aromatic soup so I. Have it in the oven now baking off some off the water. It smells delicious and seems to be firming up. I put it in for 10 minutes and will check again every 5 after that.
Any other recommendations?
Karen says
These look fantastic! I always have a batch of your apricot ones ready to go wrapped up in the freezer. My entire family loves them!
Arleen says
YUM! As soon as I can get some macadamia nuts I will be making these. Any recipe with dried cherries as an ingredient must be awesome! Thank you Elana!
Teresa says
That’s it! I am going to make these tomorrow!! Are they very kid friendly?
Leeza says
I love this recipe (and I’m not fond of dates)! It has the perfect amount of spice and works great for my mid-afternoon snack.
Ann says
I made these bars and they are delicious! For the dried fruit I used dates, raisins and currents. For the nuts I used almonds, pecans and cashews.
Teres says
I made these power bars this weekend and BOY are they GOOD!! I used a little less ginger and left out the Cardamom, but loved them just the same! I only wish there was a less oily nut that I could use. The Macadamia nuts are very oily!
Thank you. These are one of my new favorite snacks.
Teres
Tina says
Omg I just stumbled over these, they look absolutely delicious! And no sugar either (I’m currently on the lookout for healthy sugar-free snacks). I can’t wait for this evening to make and try them! Thanks a ton!
Lyla Burns says
My husband is an orthodontist in greenville nc. He is having his office do a Ragnar race together. I’ll have to make these bars before the race so that they can have them as snacks. I can’t wait to try them, thanks for sharing!