Homemade Fruit and Nut Bars

You can get creative and experiment with different nuts and dried fruits as well as thrown in some seeds. If you find they don't clump or stick together, add some extra dried fruit or a bit of water.

10 dried dates, pitted (often found in the produce section)
One cup raw almonds
1/4 cup raisins
A food processor

Pour the pitted dates, raw almonds, and raisins into the food processor. Secure the lid.

Process ingredients for about two minutes, or until they are chopped and mixed thoroughly. The fruit should appear smooth, yet you'll still be able to see bits of nuts. The mixture will look like firm cookie dough.

Alternatively you could do the fruit fruit and then nuts second. Just be sure not to purée them, the fruit should be well blended and the nuts/seeds, a bit chunky, you don't want to make nut flour

Tear off a 12 in. x 18 in. piece of plastic wrap and lay it flat on a counter or cutting board. Place the fruit and nut mixture in the center of the plastic wrap.

Pull up the plastic on either side and begin to press it together to form one large bar, keeping the layer of plastic between your hands and the dough to prevent sticking. Squeeze the mixture firmly together - if it's loose, it'll fall apart when you try to eat it.

You'll end up with a quarter-inch thick bar that's about 3 1/2 in. x 7 1/2 in. Alternatively, using water to wet your hands, pinch off small amounts of the mixture and roll into small balls if you prefer.

Wrap the large bar tightly in the plastic. Place the bar flat in the freezer for an hour to harden slightly, which will make it easier to cut into bars.

Remove the large bar from the freezer, unwrap it, and place on cutting board. Divide bar in half, and then cut each half into thirds, creating six bars total.

From: Doug Cook, RDN: The Gut Brain Guy