Green Fusion Energy Bars

Raw Fusion Vegan Breakfast or Anytime Snack

Two important elements of successfully maintaining a healthy lifestyle are: 1) Getting at least 2 servings of greens per day; and 2) Doing some prep work at least once a week to make sure that you don’t get carried away by a craving and seek out the most readily available, yet highly processed snack.

These energy bars fulfill both of these purposes — and also make for a uniquely satisfying breakfast!

For convenience, I always have some powdered greens in the freezer and take some with me on trips along with a shaker bottle. You buy powdered greens in health food stores and they are really pricey. However, last year, my good friend, Dr. Katherine shared one of the best tips I ever got! She gets lots of product through her organic CSA membership — much more than she can use — and dehydrates all of the excess at 105 degrees and then runs it through her food processor or dry pitcher of her Vitamix to make a powder. I’d recommend taking the leaf off the rib with kale and collard greens as they dry up very hard and “spiny”.

This is a raw fusion recipe as it calls for rolled oats, which are not raw. Feel free to modify these energy bars by substituting with your favorite ingredients and using seeds instead of nuts. These taste lovely with pumpkin seeds, too. The chia or flaxseed act as the binder to hold the bars together. Ground, they render more nutrition and bind better.

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats*
1 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup slivered or chopped almonds (can replace with any seeds or nuts)
¾ Cup virgin coconut oil
1 cup almond butter, preferably raw
2/3 cup raw honey
1/2 tsp almond or vanilla Extract
1/3 cup powdered greens
3/4 cup ground chia or flaxseed
Optional: 1 cup miniature carob or vegan chocolate chips

Directions:
Spread oats out on cookie sheet and roast in oven or toaster for about 5-10 minutes. Keep checking on them until they are just starting to turn golden.

Optional: You can also toast the coconut a little, add them to the cookie sheet with the oats. When they are done, set aside to cool.
Grind the chia or flaxseed in a spice or dedicated coffee grinder.

In a bowl, combine the almond butter, honey, almond or vanilla extract and soft coconut oil (if the coconut oil is in a hardened state, you can put the bottle in a bowl of hot water, just long enough to soften the oil.) You can use a whisk, hand mixer or your hands to blend these ingredients. Once they are completely combined, add the oats and mix well. Add the coconut, ground almonds, ground chia or flaxseed and continue mixing until evenly combined.

Spread and press ingredients into a 9 x 13 inch pan–a brownie pan is better, but a cake pan is just fine. Set in the refrigerator until firm for about an hour. Cut and serve. Enjoy! These will keep very well frozen and taste nice and refreshing straight from the freezer.

And here’s a second brilliant tip from clever, Dr. Kat! Break up 2-3 of these bars and pour in your favorite nut or coconut milk and eat as a cereal.

I tried this the other morning and found it to be a very satisfying and unique breakfast. Kat has been inspired to make this recipe often, with her own variations, since discovering it in my book, Raw Fusion Living: Recipes for healthy eating, natural weight loss and anti-aging.

Green Fusion Energy Bars

Raw Fusion Vegan Breakfast or Anytime Snack