Chica Cherry Pistachio Energy Bars

April 1, 2011 By Leanne Vogel March 3, 2017

Happy April Fools Day :) I will not get tricked today, I will not get tricked today… While I was running yesterday morning I realized that I have a little over a week until my first 10k race! This is so exciting! Yesterday I was able to complete the longest interval since my injury. I ran a total of 48 minutes or, 7.3km [4.5 miles]. That’s a 6:40min/km pace with 6 minutes of walking! Not bad, not bad. I didn’t have any knee pain and could have kept running… things are looking up!

I’ve been planning this recipe for awhile, I just haven’t gotten around to making it until now. You’d think what with so many weeks to stock up on shelled pistachios, I would have. But, come D-day when I went into the pantry to grab the pistachios for this recipe all I had were the unsalted ones IN the shell. Fail. My original recipe called for 1.5 cups of pistachios… the final calls for 1 cup. My fingers nearly fell off at 3/4 cup. The only thing that made my pain go away was humming the theme song to this recipe. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjBQKX3wQ00 Best.song.ever.

Chica Cherry Pistachio Energy Bars

Author: Leanne Vogel

Recipe type: Vegan, Gluten free, Dairy free, Yeast free

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 35 mins

Total time: 50 mins

Serves: 8 large bars

These bars are loaded with protein, sticky cherries, and free of refined sugars. They have the consistency of a very dense cake and are best enjoyed with a tall glass of almond milk and a good book.

Ingredients

1½ cup dried unsweetened cranberries
1 cup toasted salt free pistachio nuts
½ cup dried unsweetened cherries
½ cup chickpea flour
⅓ cup ground flax seed
¼ cup hemp protein powder – I’m sure others could be used, I like hemp protein because you can’t taste it when it’s baked!
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon himalayan rock salt

Binding goodness

¾ cup prunes
⅓ cup water
½ apple – any kind will do the trick
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup honey, maple syrup, or brown rice syrup
¼ teaspoon almond extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325F. Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper across both sides for easy lifting. Set aside.
Blend binding goodness ingredients until smooth. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together chickpea flour, protein powder, flax seed, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the cranberries, pistachios, and cherries. Make sure the nuts and dried fruit are completely coated with the flour mixture.
Add the binding goodness mixture to the fruit and nut mixture and mix well. Spread into the 8×8 prepared pan, pressing with your fingers to even it out. If you don’t have a pastry roller, use a small medicine bottle to roll the bars as flat as possible.
Bake for 30-35 minutes at 325F or until golden. [Mine took 34 minutes]
Remove from the pan and allow to cool for 20 minutes before slicing with a sharp knife.

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I stopped writing for at least 15 minutes to listen to Savage Garden. Ah, the memories. Speaking of which, thanks for all of your amazing comments on yesterday’s post. It was a super fun post to put together. I think I can say with confidence that I’m looking forward to turning 25!

What age did you have a hard time accepting? If your last recipe had a theme song, what would it be? Any fun plans for the weekend? We’re having date night tonight and I plan on making another batch of these on Saturday… ooo I can’t wait to share this one with you guys! Any guesses on what it is?