Raw Food Recipe: OMG Pecan Bars
I love creating raw food recipes. Most of my inspiration comes from my own cravings and recipes that I used to make. When my girls were little, I snagged a recipe for turtle bars from a great restaurant in Santa Fe. It quickly became one of our favorites. Later, a recipe from The Barefoot Contessa for pecan bars became an obsession. But with 2 lbs of butter, tons of sugar and cream, it is completely off of my list. That doesn’t mean I don’t think about it once in a while. Like last night as I was falling asleep. And this morning, when I woke up.
Using elements from both recipes (pecan bars and a ganache) this recipe came together beautifully. A tasty crust made from cashews and almonds (that resembles more of a short bread crust than a raw food recipe crust), filling from raw honey and coconut butter and a layer of pecans and ganache. All I could say when I tasted them was…Oh my gosh. What is really amazing about these bars is that no one would ever guess that they are raw. Made from healthy ingredients and no dehydrator required, these simple bars will impress everyone you make them for! And they are gluten free to boot! Note: these are very sweet. A little bit goes a long way.
OMG Pecan Bars
MAKES 16
Crust
- 1/2 cup cashews
- 1/2 cup almonds
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil (melted)
- Process cashews to make cashew flour. I did this in the dry container of the Vitamix. Be careful not to over process. You want a light, fluffy flour not butter.
- Process almonds to make flour.
- Combine cashew flour, almond flour and melted coconut oil.
- Press into 8 x 8 pan and place in refrigerator.
Filling
- 3/4 cup raw honey (not vegan), or raw agave
- 3/4 cup coconut butter (different than coconut oil)
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 1/2 cups pecans
- Whisk together honey, coconut butter and maple syrup.
- Spread pecans over crust.
- Pour filling mixture over pecans.
- Spoon ganache over top to create a swirl pattern. (recipe here: Chocolate Ganache)
- Refrigerate to set. You will want to keep these refrigerated.
Sheena wrote on June 3, 2013
OMG! This looks amazing!!! For the cashew flour, can this be bought? I don’t have a very good blender! 🙁
Madeline wrote on May 30, 2013
I made these earlier today, I skipped the ganache though. They were AMAZING! Everyone in my family loved them!! Thank you so so much. Your website has been so helpful as we are trying to eat a high raw diet!
Susan wrote on April 16, 2013
If you want to pre-soak and dry your nuts to release the enzyme inhibitors, you can. But this recipe calls for dry nuts. 🙂
Christine wrote on April 16, 2013
This look rawamazing!!! All your receipes do!!! I’m curious do I need to soak the nuts?
sblovesdogs wrote on May 12, 2012
Hi Susan, you are just a genius, plain and simple! I made these tonight and I am absolutely amazed at how delicious they are! Everything worked perfectly, I followed the recipe just as you outlined — I had 2 small 4″ tart pans I used instead of one 8″ pan — and within 2 hours they were completely set, cut perfectly and held their shape. My husband kept asking, “Are you sure these are raw?” I am taking the other pan to my mother’s day lunch tomorrow and I know my mom will love it. We just got your cookbooks too, and just want to thank you for such innovative and amazing recipes! It truly makes eating raw so much more fun and it really is easy to do!
myname wrote on April 24, 2012
thank you so much, Susan! i LOVE your recipes and website!
HUGS