part0069

These bars are versatile, delicious, and nutritious. They’re not too far off from those made by Lärabar, except that these bars have a more balanced sweetness that make them less triggering of cravings. We find Lärabars to be too sweet, and they’re not always made with organic ingredients. They’re also rather pricey, so our bars can save you money, too!

The ginger in these bars can help with digestion, morning sickness, migraines, arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, cholesterol problems, and heart attack. Keep in mind that these bars are so versatile that you can add other spices instead of ginger or in addition to it. Cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and cloves–some of our favorite powerhouse healthy spices would all work beautifully in this recipe. Get creative and play to your heart’s content.

Note that you may want to start soaking the sunflower seeds and flaxseeds in separate containers the night before you want to make this dish (soak for 8–12 hours and see instructions at the beginning of this chapter).

For this recipe, Heather uses soaked and then dehydrated flaxseeds. You can try just soaking the flaxseeds without dehydrating them, or you can purchase already sprouted (soaked and dehydrated) flaxseeds from your local health-food store. These are great to have on hand for last-minute recipes in case you don’t have time to soak and dehydrate. However, it’s very easy to soak the flaxseeds, then dehydrate them until they’re dry. They will stick together in the soaking water, like a gel (so you can’t drain all the water out–and that’s fine, because the gel keeps everything together!). Put the gel onto a silicone baking sheet in your dehydrator on 115° F for about 5–10 hours, then break it up, and put it in a container for use whenever you need flaxseeds! If you don’t have a food dehydrator, you can put them in your oven on the lowest setting for about 30 minutes or so.

Once the seeds are soaked and dehydrated, it takes 10 minutes to prepare these bars .

In a food processor with an S-blade, put in the dates and blend until mushy. Now add the rest of the ingredients and blend it up again. Keep blending until the mixture is completely smooth. If your food processor or blender is small, you can mix things up in two batches and then combine in a bowl afterward.

Taste the mixture and see if you like it: You can add more dates if you like a sweeter bar. Or if you want to use additional spices, like cinnamon, start with ½ tsp. and taste, then add more if needed. If you’re adding more dates, start with 2 at a time and taste again until you reach the desired level of sweetness. You may need to add a little water to get them fully blended. Scrape the sides with a rubber spatula to keep things moving.

You can add things like raisins or goji berries if you or your family like chewy fruit pieces in the bars. If you want to do this, you can take out a few dates from the mixture, then remove the batter from the food processor, add the raisins or goji berries, and pulse a few times to get them into smaller chunks; then add to the batter and mix with a wooden spoon.

Scoop out the mixture with a tablespoon and flatten into bar shapes on silicone baking sheets. Put the baking sheets into your food dehydrator at 115° F for about 18 hours, or longer if you like a drier cookie. We like these a little moist and chewy, so we’ll take them out before they get too dry or hard.

If you don’t have a food dehydrator, put the bars on a glass or stainless-steel baking sheet greased with coconut oil, or on a silicone baking sheet over your cookie sheet (the silicone baking sheet does not need to be greased), and put it in your oven at the lowest temperature. Watch the oven for when you want to take them out. It should be anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the lowest temperature of your oven and how dry you want them to be. Keeping your oven on the lowest temperature will be gentler to the nut oils.

Store in your refrigerator for a week or in your freezer for a couple of months. They will thaw quickly if you want to make more and freeze them for convenient snacks. Just pull a few out of the freezer, put into a baggie, and take on the go for a healthy snack or dessert on the run!