Sugar Plum Raw Bars

W ell, this is a totally different recipe and post coming from me. I've been experimenting in the kitchen lately, not making my usual baked goods. I want to challenge myself and try some different techniques/ingredients I've never used before.

Why do people go on raw diets?

I researched the subject after wondering about this question myself. I came across some food blogs recently where the bloggers eat raw or mostly raw diets, and it made me very curious.

People go on raw diet diets because when food is heated over 116 degrees Fahrenheit, enzymes are destroyed. Raw and living food contains enzymes, cooked food has none. Raw food has significantly more nutrients than food that have been cooked.

We want these enzymes because they assist in the digestion and absorption of foods. Many who go on raw diets experience improvement in mental and physical health, as well as energy, weight loss, and detoxification.

Sounds good, right? Do you think you could go on a raw diet? I'm not sure if I could make it on a raw diet. If I needed to do something drastically to improve my health and make me feel better, I definitely would. In the future I would like to incorporate more raw fruit and vegetables in my diet.

So what do raw foodists eat?

Just eating raw fruits, vegetables and nuts would get boring pretty fast. Foodists have to be creative in creating meals for themselves. There are a ton of raw food recipes out there, I found out. Chips, breads, crackers, cookies... you name it, there's a recipe for it.

You can't bake these things because, obviously, you can't use your oven, so you have to use a dehydrator.

I thought I would experiment and make my own raw, vegan, gluten-free granola bars, after studying a raw bar they were selling in Starbucks.



I used agave nectar, almond butter, oats, coconut, cashews, millet, flax seed, sesame seeds and dried fruit. Technically I messed up and these weren't raw... but this is my first experiment, so give me a break! You have to soak the nuts and fruits in water before they're considered raw. Also, it's debatable whether or not agave is considered raw, because it's heated when treated.



Here's the millet. It's pretty tasty, but it looks like birdseed. It is birdseed.



You stir all of the ingredients together and press it into your dehydrator. Our dehydrator is round, so my bars were oddly shaped when I sliced them. Oopsies.



You know what? These were pretty good! They taste healthy and delicious, and I was instantly energized when I ate them. Or that could have been the coffee. Meh.



I loved, loved the cashews and coconut. SO good. I hope I didn't bore you with this post, but I imagine I did. I think raw food diets are interesting and I admire those who can stick with them. I'll make it up to you in the next post: Devil's Food Cake with Chocolate Frosting. Wheeeee!

Sugar Plum Raw Bars (By Me)
Printable Recipe

1/4 cup agave nectar
3 tablespoons raw almond butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup gluten free, raw oats
1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup finely chopped raw cashews
1/3 cup millet
1/3 cup milled flax seed
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 cup finely chopped dried mixed fruit

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together agave, almond butter, vanilla and salt until combined and smooth; stir in oats, coconut, cashews, millet, flax, sesame and fruit until well combined. At this point, I flattened the dough in my dehydrator to a 1/4-inch thickness. But you could mold it into whatever shape you wanted.

Dehydrate at 105 degrees for 10 hours, or until desired consistency. Slice into bars.

Makes around 15 bars, depending on how you slice them