Power Bars w/ Dates & Lemon
So many power bars are basically candy with wrapped in a "health food" label. But it absolutely doesn't have to be that way! Lemon date bars are a fun and easy way to make power bars with no added sugar or artificial ingredients. Just dates, nuts, coconut oil, and lemon juice. Feel free to mix and match in your own flavors and your favorite nut varieties. I also am quite fond of a chocolate variation that I have also posted with cocoa powder.
Equipment
- Food Processor
- Parchment Paper or Oil (optional)
- Small Baking Dish or Loaf Pan (preferably glass or ceramic)
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ c. dates
- 1/2 c. raw almonds
- 1/2 c. raw walnuts
- 1 tsp. lemon juiced
Instructions
- Lightly coat your baking dish with oil or line it with parchment paper.If you're using a glass or nonstick baking dish, you can skip this step. If the bars are thick enough, they should come out relatively easily. Otherwise, a little oil or parchment paper definitely helps.
- Put dates, almonds, and walnuts in a food processor. Pulse for 30 seconds, or until the dates and nuts start to stick together.It’s best to air on the side of caution and don’t over beat it, though! If you process the bars too little they’ll have more chunks, but if you process them too much they’ll look more like peanut butter than power bars. I personally would rather have more chunks than peanut peanut. But it’s all personal preference!
- Add lemon juice and pulse for 15 seconds, or until barely combined.
- Spread the mixture evenly into the baking dish and refrigerate for at least an hour.You can speed this up by placing the dish in the freezer. If you're having trouble getting it cleanly out of the container, freezing can help as well.
- Cut into roughly 6-9 bars.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
- I would recommend refrigerating the bars until you're ready to eat them. However, there isn't anything particularly perishable about dates because they're already dried and aren't usually refrigerated! So, they’re more likely to go stale before they go bad.