Fennel Seed and Lemon Bars
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~ raw, vegan, gluten-free, Paleo ~
You know, pistachios are one of those nuts that are underused in recipes. I do love them, perhaps too much, and that is why I don’t have them sitting around too often. Bob loves them also, and you can always tell where he sits in the house because it seems like there is always a trail of pistachio shells to be found. :)
Pistachios are full of nutrients and fiber and known to be great for digestion. New research indicates that these ultra-healthy nuts have prebiotic characteristics – meaning they can help support higher levels of beneficial bacteria in your digestive tract.
Just one serving of pistachios can make a big difference for your aching stomach. And there’s more good news – one serving is 47 nuts, a larger serving size than any other type of nut, which clocks in at only 158 calories and contains more fiber than half a cup of spinach. That fiber, along with pistachios’ unsaturated fat, keeps your digestive system running smoothly. Healthy fats also help to lower cholesterol levels.
This bar can be dehydrator-free if you want it to. Which is a great option to have? If you decide not to dehydrate them, make sure to keep them stored in the fridge or freezer. I hope you enjoy this treat, Blessings.
Ingredients:
yields 9 bars
- 1/2 cup raw pistachios, soaked
- 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds, soaked
- 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked
- 1/2 cup whole flax seeds
- 3/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 4 tsp fennel seeds
- 1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt
- 1 1/2 cups Medjool dates, pitted
- 2 tsp lemon extract
- 3 Tbsp water
Preparation:
- In the food processor, fitted with the “S” blade, combine the pistachios, sunflower seeds, cashews, flax seeds, coconut, fennel, and salt. Pulse till everything is broken into small pebble-sized pieces.
- If you already have soaked and dehydrated nuts and seeds, there is no need to re-soak them.
- Add dates and lemon extract. Mix until the batter starts rolling into a ball in the machine.
- If the batter is too dry, add the water, 1 Tbsp at a time. The amount of moisture in the dates and if you used soaked nuts and seeds will determine if or how much water is needed.
- The batter should almost appear to dry but sticks together when pinched.
- Line an 8 x 8″ baking pan with plastic wrap (for the ease of removing later) and press the batter into it, firmly and evenly.
- Alternatively, you can use the bar press, which is what I did to get compressed and even-sized bars. Click (here) to learn about this technique.
- Freeze for 4+ hours.
- Remove from the pan and cut into desired shapes. Wrap individually and store in the fridge for 1 week or freezer for 1-2 months.
- Option – you can dehydrate these as well. Place them on a mesh sheet that comes with the dehydrator and dry at 145 degrees (F) for 1 hour, then reduce to 115 degrees for 6+ hours. Pull them out at the dryness that you want.
Culinary Explanations:
- Why do I start the dehydrator at 145 degrees (F)? Click (here) to learn the reason behind this.
- When working with fresh ingredients, it is essential to taste test as you build a recipe. Learn why (here).
- Don’t own a dehydrator? Learn how to use your oven (here). I do, however honestly believe that it is a worthwhile investment. Click (here) to learn what I use.
© AmieSue.com
Tags: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, No Dehydration Required, Paleo, Refined Sugar Free, Soy Free, sugar free, Vegan
This sounds very great! Very unusual, the flavor must be exceptional and surprising! Thanks!
You will have to give it a try Petra and let me know what you think. :)
delicioso y muy nutritibo felicidades Bendiciones
Greetings Amie Sue,
First let me say, I love your website! My Excalibur is arriving this week and I’m planning on making the Fennel Seed and Lemon Bars first. Do I freeze them before I dehydrate or skip that step? Also wondering how long do you dehydrate nuts and seeds?
Thank you.
Hi Margie,
Thank you very much for your kind words, they always mean a lot to me. If you are going to dehydrate the bars, you don’t need to freeze them. I just provided two ways of making them since some people don’t have a dehydrator. Soon you will have yours and you will be creating up a storm. hehe Oh regarding how long you need to soak the nuts / seeds for… if you look at the ingredient list, I provided a link that will take you to a post that I did that shares all this information with you. Have a great afternoon. amie sue
Well, my first try with the dehydrator was a success! The Fennel Seed Bars did not look like yours, how ever, very delicious and that’s what counts! Question: Is it a good idea to “preheat” the dehydrator before putting the food in?
Awesome Margie! I wish you great success moving forward and I know you will have it! There is no need to preheat the dehydrator. :) amie sue
you did not call for the pistachios to be soaked. Is that correct? Thought you always wanted to soak your nuts/seeds. You also did not say that the almonds in the Banana Nut Brittle recipe are to be soaked. Can you please clarify why not to soak? Whatever you might say, this food exploration is a blast with you! …and thanks
Good morning Nancy,
Yes… we should always soak the nuts and seeds. Very important for digestion. I am trying to make sure I remember to always add that to each recipe. I have almost 1,000 recipes on my site and occasionally I forget because it seems obvious to me since I have been doing this so long. But that is not a good excuse. Thank you for pointing it out so I can fix the recipe so that way when others come along who might now know to do this… they will! :) Have a blessed weekend Nancy. amie sue
Hi, I just made these bars…absolutely delicious. Only query…I entered all the ingredients exactly as they are here into a calorie counter and decided to make my bars smaller so around 12 in the block, and it calculated them to be 232 cals per serve…any explanation why this is so different from your 158 per bar when your block looks like it made 8 not 12 so should be quite a bit more than mine! I’m a little confused, but they are still delicious!
My turn to be a little confused lol. I don’t see that I provided a calorie count for these bars… so what are you comparing them too? In the end… I am glad to hear that you enjoyed them :)
My apologies…is the 158 cals mentioned in the pre-recipe paragraph just to do with pistachios? I counted the number of bars in your picture and worked from there! Great to be aware of calories especially when combinations are so delicious…helps to keep me in check! Thanks for the recipe.
Aah ok, that makes sense now. Yes, the numbers in the paragraph above is just referring to the calories in pistachios, not the bar. :)
So sorry, my mistake. I thought the 158 cals mentioned in the penultimate paragraph before the ingredients was for the bars, but now I look again it may mean just for pistachios? I do like to know cal count so I can control myself as best as possible, especially with these bars which are so very more-ish!
Sorry about the repetition, technical error. Thanks for clarifying.
No worries Nicola. I understand. I don’t do a lot of nutritional data on my recipes because there is no real way of knowing how many calories are left in almond milk or almond pulp.. just as an example. :) Please stay in touch and have a blessed evening, amie sue
Hi please can you clarify if you need to dehydrate the soaked nuts and seeds before adding them to the lemon and fennel bars or if you put them into the ingredients just soaked? Thanks
Hello Gina, I used them soaked as indicated in the ingredient list. :)
Great site. Mega hours of hard but fun work. Thankyou so much. Is the coconut in your recipes essential? Makes hubby wheeze. I can think of substitutes for the milk and butter but the shredded coconut has me stumped. Cheers from South Australia
Hello Sharyn,
Not mega hours… mega years! lol I am glad that you are enjoying it. There will no wheezing allowed! hehe Sorry to hear that your hubby has reactions to coconut. You can omit and maybe replace it with another dried fruit that is chopped nice and small… or add in another 1/2 of of one of the nuts or buckwheat even. Enjoy! amie sue
Hello there, I just wanted to comment and say what a wonderful website you have! All of the recipes look amazingly delicious. I will definitely be trying a lot of them out.
Today I am planning to try out this Fennel Seed and Lemon Bar recipe, but I haven’t been able to get the lemon extract, so I was wondering what substitution you would think would be good. Do you think that instead of the 3 tbsp of water, I could add fresh lemon juice? And maybe a little bit of vanilla or almond extract; what do you think?
Thank you!
Katya
Hello Katya,
I am sorry that I was slow to respond to this comment. I have been on vacation and just got back late late last night. I did my best to stay on top of questions while I was traveling but some days I really struggled with Internet connection.
The answer to your question is, yes. I would just replace the water with lemon juice and even add in some lemon rind to let that lemony flavor shine!
Have a blessed weekend, amie sue :)