More Raw Delights (and a recipe!) for Sweet Freedom Saturday

This week’s recipe is a favourite of mine : Cocoa Nibbles! These raw bars rival any over-priced, mass-produced bars you can find in your local supermarket or health food store and are quick and easy to make.

I admit to using carob powder in lieu of cocoa powder, just because. The recipe provides some great add-in ideas, keeping this recipe fresh and different depending on your mood (and what you have on hand). This time around I added cinnamon and ground Vanilla Rooibos Tea. Rooibos or Red Tea is just full of anti-oxidants, and I love the vanilla flavour it adds. I often add a teaspoon of rooibos to my smoothies or raw bars…that’s just the kind of girl I am.

I’m not the best bar-shaper, mostly because I don’t really care about their visual aesthetic. I just want them to be delicious. After I roll them out into a log-shape and chill, I cut them up, and set them on a piece of foil. You can use the foil to push them into a square or bar shape, and your fingers stay clean!

You don’t have to individually wrap these, but I like to have them as on-the-go snacks. Don’t they look so “Lost In Space”esque?

Ready for the best part? You can make these, even if you don’t have Sweet Freedom yet! Visit Diet, Dessert and Dogs for the Cocoa Nibbles recipe!

Have you made anything yummy from Sweet Freedom this week ? Stay tuned next Saturday for another installment of “Sweet Freedom Saturdays”. We’ve also got a brand new Sweet Freedom Flickr Group – come join us! Other Sweet Freedom Saturday deliciousness here in the Fishbowl : Mrs. K’s Date Cake, Raw Apricot Bars, Tomato Spice Cake, Carrot Snack Cake, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Gingered Apple Muffins, Spiced Pumpkin Millet Pudding.

How do you celebrate freedom? With a giveaway, of course! Sweet Freedom Saturday

Thank you for the wonderful response! Congratulations to our winners, found here.

Happy Saturday everyone! I just love Saturday, and what can make your Saturday even sweeter? How about some Raw Apricot Bars?

These delicious raw bars will satisfy your sweet tooth in an oh-so-healthy and delicious way. They are a real snap to prepare which I just love, and you can even frost them if you want to with the Coconut Date Frosting recipe – also raw of course! I opted to just give them a light sprinkling of shredded coconut this time around.

I wish I could say they were a big hit with Guppy, but, alas, they were not. She is such a funny bunny; she just loves raw and dried fruits, but she just can’t get her raw treats groove on. Monsieur Fish is the same way – salé raw cuisine is no problémo, but when it’s sucré, he just wrinkles his nose. Whateveah. That means more raw goodness for me! These would be an excellent mid-morning or mid-afternoon sweet snacky treat – portable and easy to stash in your gym bag or purse. Who needs to purchase over-priced raw bars? These are even tastier!

Now, didn’t I say something about a giveaway?

It’s nearly July, and that means three of my favourite freedom-related holidays : July 1st is Canada Day, July 4th is Independence Day, and July 14th is Bastille Day here in France. Wee! While I could debate the idea of freedom, and it’s obvious subjectivity – I won’t. At least not today. Today I’m here to share Sweet Freedom with you! Author Ricki Heller, who blogs at Diet, Dessert and Dogs, has graciously donated two copies of Sweet Freedom, a hard-copy and a PDF, for me to give to YOU!

We’re entering into the “heat” of BBQ season, and you’ll be the hero of the picnic when you arrive with treats that everyone can enjoy!

There are three ways to enter :

• Just leave a comment below to be entered. You can improve your chances of winning by doing one (or both) of the following :
• You can Tweet about the giveaway, linking back to this post. This will score you an additional 3 entries. (Visit Tiny URL if you need to condense.) Just don’t forget to comment with a link to your Tweet so it can be counted!
• Blog about the giveaway, linking back here. 3 more entries are yours! Just don’t forget to comment with a link to your blogpost so it can be counted!

The drawing will be closed next Saturday, and the winners will be announced on Wednesday, July 1st, to celebrate Canada Day in style! Bonne chance à tous!

Have you made anything yummy from Sweet Freedom this week ? Stay tuned next Saturday for another installment of “Sweet Freedom Saturdays”. We’ve also got a brand new Sweet Freedom Flickr Group – come join us! Other Sweet Freedom Saturday Deliciousness here in the Fishbowl : Tomato Spice Cake, Carrot Snack Cake, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Gingered Apple Muffins, Spiced Pumpkin Millet Pudding.

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Larabars? No! Make your own raw goodness! Coconut Carob Banana Bread Bars

I don’t want to offend any hard-core Larabar lovers out there. I really like them, and brought a bunch back from the US with me (though my stash was quickly depleted), but let’s face it kids – they are muy expensive, and you can make some similar tasting yummies at home.

Back in October during Vegan MoFo I posted this recipe for Raw Banana Bread Bars. They are yummy bars, but I was playing with the recipe, trying to come up with something new and a little more daring for breakfast. I really like the way these turned out, the ginger gives them just the right amount of sassyness, and coconut and carob are always happy together!

Raw Coconut Carob Banana Bread Bars

• 130g raw almonds
• 30g dried ginger (about 2 or 3 chunks)
• 4 or 5 dehydrated bananas, chopped (these are soft, not the hard dried ones)
• 60g unsweetened, shredded coconut
• 2 1/2 tablespoons carob
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• a little water, as needed

In your food processor grind up the almonds first, then add the rest of the ingredients. You may need to add more or less water, depending on how dry your bananas are, and if you have carob issues you could swap it for cocoa powder of course.

Once things are ground up to your liking and sticking together, they’ll need to set just a bit. I put mine in this cute little silicon flower mold – and I got 6. You could also just line a tupperware-type container with plastic wrap or parchment paper and press it flat with your fingers. I put mine in the fridge for the afternoon, then took them out and wrapped them individually for easier portability. I keep them in the fridge, and while I’m not a food Scientist, I’ve kept them for 2 weeks and they were still a-ok.

I’m hoping to try a walnut variation on these, so I’ll let you know how that works out. Hope you’re having a lovely Saturday out there, kids!