Peanut Butter Raisin Bars

Peanut Butter Raisin Bars offer a hint of heaven in every bite.  As the sweet flavors of chocolate and raisins meld together with the deep rich flavor of peanut butter, well shoot you have a winning combination from the get go!   Not only do they taste amazing, they are full of healthy nutrients.

Did you know that peanuts are not true nuts but a member of a family of legumes related to peas, lentils, chickpeas and other beans?   Peanuts start growing as a ground flower that due to its heavy weight bends towards the ground and eventually burrows underground where the peanut actually matures.  They are a very good source of monounsaturated fats.  In addition, peanuts are also good source of niacin, folate, copper, manganese, and protein.

If you are allergic to peanuts you could substitute almond butter.  It will have a somewhat different flavor, but different doesn’t mean bad.  It would still taste amazing, just a different profile for the good ole taste buds!

Ingredients: yields 18 bars

Dry Ingredients:

• 3 cups raw gluten-free rolled oats, (see below)
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup flax seeds
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup sliced raw almonds
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Wet Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup raw peanut butter
• 1/4 cup medjool dates (5 large)
• 1/4 cup raw coconut butter, softened
• 1/4 cup raw honey (or raw agave if Vegan)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Preparation:

1. **Overnight soak – In a large bowl place 3 cups of oats, 6 cups of water and 3 Tbsp raw apple cider vinegar.  Cover and let them soak overnight on the counter top.  You can read here why it is important to soak your oats.  Once the soak process is complete, drain and rinse the oats really well until the water to runs clear.
2. Combine the oats and remaining dry ingredients into a large bowl. Set aside.
3. In the food processor, combine the wet ingredients and process until well incorporated.
4. Mix the wet and  dry ingredients until the oat mixture is evenly coated.  This is a thick batter so you may want to use your hands, I did!
5. Spread the batter in the desired sized/style pan.  I used a 9 x 9 square Springform pan that I lined with parchment paper.
6. Press mixture in the pan, packing it nice and firm.  I occasionally wet my hand as I am pressing the batter into place, to prevent it from sticking to me.
7. Place in freezer for a minimum of 1 hour.  This will help you when comes to cutting it into bars.
8. Remove from the freezer and cut into desired shapes and sizes.   Place on the mesh dehydrator sheets that come with your machine and dry at 105 degrees for 16-24 hrs.

 

 How to make your own raw peanut butter:

recipe by: Incredible Smoothies

Ingredients

• 2 cups raw peanuts (or 1 and 1/2 cups raw peanuts and cup 1/2 raw almonds)
• 1  1/2 to 3 Tbsp peanut oil (Don’t use olive oil as it will affect the flavor. If you can’t find peanut oil, use sunflower or avocado oil.)
• 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional for flavor)
• 1 tsp sea salt (optional)

Directions:

1.  Add all the ingredients to your food processor, juicer or high-speed blender. If you are using a food processor or blender, you’ll need make sure you don’t blend for too long. If the machine is getting warm, turn it off and wait for it to cool down.
2. I highly recommend using a food processor with an “S” blade as this is the quickest and easiest way to make nut butters. We did manage to make ours in a blender, but blenders are not best suited for making nut butters, especially small batches.
3.  It will take several minutes for the peanut butter to become creamy. It will be faster if you use a food processor.
4.  Once your peanut butter is the consistency you want, remove it from the food processor or blender and enjoy!

Posted on Thursday, July 14th, 2011 at 7:23 pm. Filed under: Bars Tags: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, Soy Free RSS 2.0 feed.