Cranberry Mango Nut Bars (Gluten Free and Raw)
This month’s round of Secret Recipe Club is brought to you by the lovely blog Without Adornment, written by Bean. Bean has a great blog with tons of awesome gluten free, sugar free, raw, and allergen free food. She named her blog after a rather beautiful Bible Scripture – “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment… Rather, it should be that if your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gently and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” (1Peter 3:3-4). She tries to focus her blog on her own quest just be herself, without adornment, and I really love her approach, and her blog reflects it. Her photography is simple, but captures the beauty of the actual food itself, and her recipes are the same – natural food, wholesomely prepared, but obviously delicious.
I had a rather hard time picking what I wanted to make this month. I’ve been doing a little bit of dabbling in using more whole and unprocessed foods, but I wasn’t quite ready to make a foray into gluten free baking (which often contains a substantial list of ingredients not currently found in my kitchen). I finally found the perfect recipe – Cranberry Mango Nut Bars! This fit the bill perfectly, representing Bean’s blog about Gluten-free eating, my quest to use less pre-processed foods. Plus it gave me the excuse to buy two things I have been eyeing at the grocery store but haven’t been able to stop talking myself out of buying it – almond butter and coconut oil!
I am very happy with the way these bars turned out, too! After the initial chopping phase, these bars were a breeeeeze to put together. I think it took me 5 minutes, tops. After a brief stint in the freezer to harden the bars, it was time to taste them! And taste them I did. Like, three in a row. I had to make sure they were good, you know! 🙂 These are best eaten straight out of the refigerator. Because the honey isn’t boiled, these granola bars stay soft, and the longer they are out of the fridge the softer they get!
Cranberry Mango Nut Bars (Gluten Free and Raw)
Ingredients
- ¾ cup raw almonds chopped
- ¾ cup raw cashews chopped
- ¼ cup raw walnuts chopped
- ¼ cup shredded coconut
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries soaked in apple juice
- ⅓ cup dried unsweetened mango chopped
- ⅓ cup almond butter
- ¼ cup raw honey
- 2 TBSP coconut oil
Instructions
- Chop your nuts, mango, and soak your cranberries.
- Grease an 8x8" pan with vegetable oil and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the almond butter, honey and coconut oil.
- Heat on low heat and stir constantly until the coconut oil is melted and the mixture is combined and creamy.
- Dump in the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and press until it is evenly spread out.
- Place the pan in the freezer for 1 hour.
- Cut into bars and then place back into the freezer for another hour.
- Once the bars have solidified you can store them in the fridge.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
(recipe adapted from Without Adornment)
Looking for other awesome snack ideas? Check out these easy recipes:
Apple Cinnamon Granola White Chocolate Bark
Chocolate Peanut Butter Energy Bites
Hi Jenni! Those bars look AMAZING!! Yum! I'll have to try these soon. 🙂
Just letting you know that I was assigned your blog this month. I blogged about the recipe here: http://annejisca.wordpress.com/2012/05/28/secret-recipe-club-cranberry-chicken-salad/
Love your blog!
these sound awesome, Jenni! i've been playing around with making my own granola bars recently, + these look just as delicious (+ more healthy!) – will definitely have to try these soon!
I like your method of trying three "just inc case"
Quality control is very important – taste, taste, and taste again before you blog!
Nice post, have a happy SRC reveal + Memorial Day! (kudos for you for participating so close to your move!)
WOW – those look and sound DELICIOUS!! I bet you can totally customize those, too, with other fruits or nuts or seeds or whatever you have on hand for a delicious snack! Fanastic 🙂
Those look like they would be great for after-school snacks!
I have been trying to make my own granola bars lately too!!! I love this healthy version…I will have to try it out next!!!
Great pick for SRC – these look delicious and healthy! I'd like to buy some almond butter and coconut oil too as I'm sure there are lots of recipes you can use them in.
Jenni these look awesome! Awesome snack for on the go… I might need a batch this week!
OH WOW.
These look soooo good.
I might make these for my mum – she was recently found to be gluten intolerant and has been sampling all the GF biscuits that the supermarket stocks ever since! These look like they'd be tastier and way better for you. And even though I'll be making them for her, I suspect I'll be, erm, testing them myself…
These would make a terrific snack for my kids. Great pick for SRC!
gorgeous! i've been meaning to add a nutty/fruity bar to my snack arsenal – i think this'll do it 🙂
happy SRC reveal!
These sound awesome Jenni! So good and so healthy sounding.
Hi Jenni – Thank you so much for the kind words about my blog! I'm so glad that you enjoyed the photography and recipes.
These bars look amazing! I'm happy that you found them as delicious as I did. Now I really want to make them again… 🙂
Take Care!
These sound like something I need to try. Thanks for sharing.
Great SRC choice! I love nut and granola bar recipes and am adding this to my files. You've beaten me to the coconut oil. I really need to go get some!