cocoa cherry energy bars
I’m always looking for ways that I can indulge my love for chocolate without adding a lot of sugar to my diet, and these bars are one of my answers. They are very quick to make in the food processor and great to bring along on the trail or just around town. I order Green & Black cocoa through Amazon, I think Green & Black has the best flavor of the fair trade cocoas I’ve tried.
The chocolate chips are optional but good, I threw them into half the batch that I used for my photo. Made them this morning and we are in fact taking these bars along on a hike to 22 Mile Lake. Maybe I will update with some photos later.
Cocoa Cherry Energy Bars
Prep time
Total time
Author: Mary
Serves: 14 oz
Ingredients
- 8 oz. almonds or 2 cups almond flour
- ⅓ cup (1 oz.) cocoa
- pinch salt
- 2.5 oz (about ½ cup) dried cherries
- 5 oz (about 1 cup) pitted soft dates
- ¼ tsp. vanilla
- 1 Tbsp. coconut oil
- 1 Tbsp. water (if your dates are on the dry side)
- optional handful dark chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life brand)
Instructions
- Add all ingredients up to and including the coconut oil to food processor. Blend. Assess texture. If the mixture is still dry and crumbly, add 1 Tbsp water. Mixture should hold together into a ball very easily when you squeeze it together. When I have made this recipe with older, dried-out dates and almond flour that's been in the freezer I've needed the liquid. For very dry dates I have used 2 Tbsp. of water. If you are using chocolate chips, add them at the end and process very briefly. You could use a mixing wheel to ensure that the chips stay whole, but I find it's not necessary if you just pulse the mixture once.
- Line a small square baking pan with parchment paper, press mixture into pan. Cut into bars or squares.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
These sound really good. I like Green & Black chocolate as well and I have a huge bag of almond flour in the freezer.
Marcia recently posted..Runfession Friday Linkup
Yep, I’ve got that huge bag of Honeyville Almond Flour from Costco in the freezer, making inroads on it with these bars and some other things!
This is perfect- I may just have all of the ingredients on hand already, and I had been hunting for some healthier snacks. Glad I checked in here! 🙂
Hannah recently posted..Making Prepared Meals Personal
Thanks Hannah!
What a terrific sounding recipe! I absolutely must try these, and the almond flour is a nice touch.
Doreen Pendgracs recently posted..Sisterhood of the World Bloggers
Thanks Doreen! I find myself making them often, they are my quickest energy bar recipe and very chocolatey. I’m sure I can make them starting with almonds instead of almond flour, as soon as I get that worked out I’ll add that variation.