Maca-Goji-Cacao Bars

 

Move over Larabars!  There's a new bar in town and it'll knock your socks off in flavor and nutrition.  I put these bars together in less than 15 minutes and they were ready by the morning for my adventure at the beach with my family.   Packed with protein, antioxidants, iron, magnesium and omega 3's, this little snack proved itself worthy of an anytime meal.
So, this recipe called for almonds and cashews, but I just threw anything and everything in there.  This is how it goes....

Take 8 cups of your favorite nuts (other than cashews)....almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, etc. and place in a food processor.  Grind into crumbs.    This will make about 4 1/2 cups worth. 

 Then take 3 cups of cashews and pulse these in the processor into pieces.  When you are finished with that, combine all nuts together in a bowl and mix with a spoon.

After this you will add the remaining ingredients which are the following:  1 cup soaked goji berries (soaked no more than 15 minutes and drained), 1 cup hemp seeds, 1/2 cup flax seeds or flax meal, 1/2 cup cacao nibs, 1 tsp. sea salt (real sea salt....it should be pink, not white!), 1 tsp. organic vanilla extract, 1 tsp. lemon zest, and 1/4 cup maca.  Bring it all together with 1 3/4 cup raw honey.  Mix until blended.

You will use 3 dehydrator sheets for this.  Make sure you cover your dehydrator tray with a fruit roll up sheet.  Using a spatula, place mixture on a tray and press firmly to the edges until smooth.  Repeat process for all trays and dehydrate on 110 degrees overnight or until a soft cookie/bar like texture is obtained.  If you don't have a dehydrator, I encourage you to invest in one...not that expensive.  Nesco is a good brand.  But you can try this in your oven on the lowest setting with parchment paper lining a cookie sheet.  Obviously, you will be taking some of the nutritional value away, but it will still be yummy and good for you.  You will need to keep an eye on it as it will not take as long as the dehydrator. 

This recipe is a spin off of Matthew Kenney's from everydayraw.  I do NOT use agave because it is not true agave AND it is not low-glycemic as claimed.  It is worse than high fructose corn syrup.  Raw honey is an enzyme-rich food which carries trace minerals.  So, so good!  Especially if you know the bee keeper.  :)

Enjoy!