Nuts & Seeds Bars

I got the basic gist of the recipe here, but I made a lot of substitutions to fit my family's taste.  Let me tell you, these are awesome!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup pistachios
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds

3/4 cup dried currants
1 cup dried shredded coconut (I used medium shreds)

1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup almond butter
5 Tbsp grade B maple syrup  (or 6 tbsp of agave nectar)

Directions:

1.  Line an 8x11 baking dish with parchment paper.

2.  In food processor pulse pistachios first (they are difficult to chop, so they take a bit longer).  Once you start seeing progress with the pistachios, stop the processor and add the other nuts and seeds.  You'll want to pulse the mixture until the nuts finely chopped, but not becoming butter yet.  It's actually pretty good if you have different size pieces of nuts and seeds left.  It adds interest and texture to the bars.  Transfer to a large bowl and add the currants and coconut.

3.  In a small pot heat up the coconut oil, almond butter and maple syrup (or agave) on low.  Once it is all melted, bring to a boil on medium, stirring CONSTANTLY.  If you don't, it will burn and then you've just ruined that batch. I learned that the hard way.

4.  Pour oil mixture on top of the nuts and seeds mixture.  Mix thoroughly.  You are going to want it to be somewhat moist but a bit crumbly.  If it's soggy, then you will want to add more coconut, nuts, or seeds to the mixture.

5.  Press into the lined baking dish firmly - using parchment paper if needed.  Allow to cool for about 30 minutes, and press firmly into the dish some more.  The more you pack it down, the firmer the bars will be when they are ready.

6.  Place dish into the refrigerator for a couple hours.  It will allow them to set up.  They will not set up fully without this step.

7.  When the bars were hard, I cut them in half lengthwise and then in 2 inch segments.  This made about 10 bars.


REACTION:  5 out of 5 kids loved them.  Hubby loved them.  I loved them.  They were even chewy enough that my 14 month old could manage small pieces of them.  Just typing this makes me want another!


**mine were a bit mushier than I would have liked, but I had put in nearly 7 tbsp of maple syrup.  That was just too much, which is why I suggest only using 5**

Chocolate Covered Coconut Cashew Balls

Oh my heck - the name just says it all, doesn't it?  To me, it says HEAVEN IN BALL FORM!  I love cashews.  I love coconut.  I love chocolate.  How on earth have I lived so long without consuming such a wonderful treat?  Look at them!  They are DIVINE!!!!!

So I suppose you want the recipe?  Well, you can go to where I found the original recipe at Lux Hippie but I had to change the recipe a wee bit - mostly to actually make it vegan and a bit more affordable.

What I Used:

2 1/2 cups raw cashews  (you can use all cashews - just use 4 cups total)
1 cup blanched almonds
1/2 cup blanched peanuts
1 1/2 cups coconut sugar or vegan powdered sugar (regular powdered sugar isn't vegan)
1 13.5 oz can of coconut milk
1 3/4 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
1 tsp vanilla
2 bags of vegan chocolate chips (regular semi-sweet chips are not vegan)

Instructions:

1.  Put can of coconut milk into freezer for at least 45 minutes.  This will allow the water and the coconut cream to separate.  Take special care not to jostle of shake the can when you take it out of the fridge.  Open can and scrape off just the coconut cream into a bowl.  You do not need the water - just the cream.  Mine was pretty stiff so allow to get back to room temp while you gather your ingredients.

2.  In the food processor, pulse the nuts.  You will want the nuts to resemble a somewhat course sand.  You do not want it to become puree...just a sand-like substance.  You can use any kind of nuts, so long as they total 4 cups.  I just couldn't justify the cost of 4 cups of raw cashews.  Since the majority of the mix was cashews, it's the predominant flavor.

3.  Add coconut sugar (or powdered sugar), unsweetened coconut, and vanilla.  Mix very well.  Because my coconut cream was not quite at room temperature, the only way I could fully incorporate it into the mix was to use my hands.

4.  Roll mixture into balls and place on a lined cookie sheet.  Place in freezer for a couple of hours.  It will be much easier to dip the balls in chocolate once they are completely frozen.

5.  Next, dip balls into melted chocolate.  I just nuked my vegan chocolate in the microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring each time.  Because chocolate chips (of any kind) are not tempered chocolate or a dipping chocolate, they will only harden when kept in the refrigerator.  You will absolutely need to store these in the fridge and serve them cold.  If not, you will have a mess.

*Please note that little hands most definitely melt these Quadruple C Balls, you will want to make sure that your child either eats them fast or you have a sink nearby.  My 2 year old was COVERED in chocolate.  She looked like she had a fu manchu of chocolate with chocolate gloves on.  It was awesome.  lol.

**Also note that these taste great without being covered in chocolate.  I only used one bag of vegan chips because I wanted to save some of the balls to eat without chocolate.  They are perfectly yummy as they are.