Raw peanut butter cookie bars. Vegan. GF.

I have been making my PT a different healthy snack every time I have an appointment.  I made these yesterday with pantry items I had on hand.  I’ve made these in small cookie form and yesterday I opted to make them in bar form.  They came out great & were incredibly flavorful.  Sweet & salty.  Seriously the best combination. Keep these in the freezer and pop them on your oatmeal, when you need a snack or atop of your favorite vegan ice cream.  You can even stack these for a cookie ice cream sandwich… oh the possibilities 😉

Ingredients:

1 c of almonds
1/3 c of peanuts (I used salted but raw would certainly work)
9 large Medjool dates, pitted
1/3 c of peanut or almond butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla paste
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt or pink Himalayan salt

Method:

Place both nuts in your food processor and blend until a rough flour texture is achieved (see pic below).  Then add the remaining ingredients and blend for an additional minute or so.  Stop the machine down and scrape down the sides if necessary.  Pulse a few additional times.

Using a bread pan, line with a sheet of parchment paper.

Then spoon your dough into the pan.  Using a small glass or the back of a measuring cup – press the dough down into the pan firmly. This will yield the best bars.  Refrigerate for 2-3 hours to set up.  When you’re ready to slice – remove the parchment paper gently lifting the bars out.  Place on a cutting board and slice in half and repeat until you have uniform cookie bars.  Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.


Slice & enjoy!

My weekly recap looks like this:

Sunday: 1 h elliptical. 30m treadmill.
Monday: 1h elliptical. 35m treadmill. Weights. Abs. Balance.
Tuesday: 1h elliptical. 3om treadmill.
Wednesday: 1h elliptical. 35m treadmill. Weights. Some quad weights. Abs.
Thursday: 1h elliptical. 15m treadmill.  Abs. 1h PT strength, core & balancing.

See ya soon!

— Knead to Cook