Brilliant Blueberry Date Bars

First things first–pardon my recent absence from the blogosphere.  I actually have many half started entries this past month, that for some reason or other never got finished. Admittedly things have been busy, but I have many exciting recipes I’ve been meaning to share and intend to do so in the following weeks!

Earlier this year I received an intriguing email offering from Gilt City in my inbox–a voucher for *customizable* energy bars through a company called Element.  I had never heard of them before, but after a quick perusal of their website deemed that with the discount the voucher would be a worthy investment.

The site allows you to choose from a selection of ‘classic’ Element bars, or the more daring option–to create your own bar with the ingredients of your choosing.  The website, which includes a nifty nutritional calculator, is pretty fun and user-friendly for the most part. Best of all, the innovative company allows you to personalize the packaging–effectively branding your own bars.  Brill-ante!

I ended up selecting a date and quinoa based bar with dried blueberries.  Sadly, the bars were just okay– a little sweet for my taste.

Which leads me to my only complaint–although I think it’s great that you can customize a bar to your own liking, it’s hard to know whether the outcome will actually be palatable. I wish they would allow you to purchase the bars in a smaller quantity, so you could discern whether or not the flavor combo actually worked before ordering a whole box.  Ah well. Next time I think I will go with one of their standard flavors such as the “Autumn Blueberry.”

Another way to avoid this scenario, however, is to make your own!  Granola bars– a great source of energy on the go–are also much simpler to make that you might expect.  All you need is a good food processor or high-speed blender.  And there are infinite number of flavor combinations you could try.  Below is a recipe for a DIY blueberry date bar.

Goes nicely with a glass of hemp milk.

Blueberry Date Bars 

Courtesy of picturespupsandpies

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup dried blueberries
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped pitted dates
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• a few drops of almond extract (optional)

1.  Combine dried blueberries, dates, lemon zest and almond extract in food processor and blend until it becomes a paste.  Transfer to a medium bowl.

2.  Next process the almonds in the food processor until finely chopped.

3.  Combine chopped almonds with the date mixture, using your hands to knead together.  Then roll flat into a large rectangle.

4.  Cut into rectangles (makes about 6 bars).  Cover with plastic wrap and store in fridge.