This recipe is ridiculously delicious and I will admit that this recipe actually wasn't planned - it was simply an experiment gone super well. We want to encourage you to play with your food a bit, get crafty in the kitchen and see what yummy goodness you can create.

These bars are crunchy and are a mixture of a seven-layer bar, a rice crispy, and a peanut butter chocolate brownie. Here's a warning to you, however: they might be gone before you know it! They're good. But you'll know that you aren't feeding your bod with nasties, but instead, offering a sweet treat with no added sugar. Win-win? Win-win. 

Here's what's in them: 

• B U C K W H E A T : is actually a seed, is gluten-free, and offers a crunch filled with plant-based protein and fiber, what's not to like? It lends its hand well in this recipe. It's extra crunch and is soaked + sprouted thus offering superior nutrition, and easy digestability (woo!).

• S W E E T : You get the sweetness from dried fruit, in this recipe, dried cherries, and dates. 

• N U T T Y : comes in two forms in this recipe. One is raw, soaked hazelnuts and the other is optional (but will admit it takes this recipe to the next level as long as you aren't a strict raw foodie) but is powdered peanut butter powder. You might find it as PB2, or in my case, I found it at my local Natural Grocer's. These two ingredients bump up the protein substantially while offering a rich flavor to these bars. You can use any nut you want!

• C A C A O : powder + chocolate chips, or cacao nibs, your choice! In this recipe I used semi-sweet chocolate chips as well as cacao powder, but like any recipe, you can tweak it to your liking.                                                                       

• O A T S : full of fiber, more protein (#plantpowered), and they have a natural sweetness and depth to them. I actually used them as the main "substance" for these bars as they are 1) affordable 2) yum flavor and 3) easy to access 4) are gluten-free and 5) they are easy to play around with the flavor! You could easily take out the PB and chocolate and sub in blueberries to make blueberry bars. Basically, hail the oat for they are super versatile. 

After gathering said above ingredients, take out your food processor, stick the dates, cherries, nuts, PB powder, a touch of vanilla bean powder or extract, the cacao powder, optional cacao nibs/chips, and oats, and about a 1/4 cup of filtered water to start, and pulse just to mix the ingredients.

Go to high on the food processor and get that blending until the hazelnuts start getting smaller, the oats become more powder like, and everything starts to emulsify. Again, with texture, if you want it chunkier, don't food process as long.  If you're noticing that it isn't forming together like you want it to, you may need a bit more water or dates to get it to cling together. 

Once you have it to the desired texture, take a pan, whatever shape you want, and if you are opting for the PB powder, sprinkle a thin layer of the PB powder at the bottom of the glass pan. If not, you can blend up some more oats in a blender, or even keep them whole, and sprinkle a thin layer at the bottom of the pan. Then pour the food processor mixture into the pan, wet your fingers with some water, and start smooshing it into the pan until it's evenly dispersed. 

At this point, enter : buckwheat! Sprinkle as much crunch as you want onto the top of the bars and smoosh them into the top of the bars. If you want more of a layer of the buckwheat (aka more crunch), pour more on, and don't worry about it layering up too much, just smoosh it all in. 

Put the glass pan into the freezer for at least an hour. Let them firm up. Then you can take them out of the freezer + cut them into desired size. 

Recipe : 

Here's where the fun happens. Because it doesn't have to be exact, these are *rough* measurements. Play around with it. If you want it drier, put in more oats and buckwheat. A bit stickier? Put in more dates/cherries/water. 

Create alchemy in your kitchen! And as always, consume with intention, and appreciation ~ 

~ 1.5 cups oats

~ 10 dates (may vary depending on size + variety)

~ tsp vanilla  

~ 1/2 peanut butter powder (+ 2 T for sprinkling on the pan) 

~ 1/2 to 1 cup hazelnuts or nuts of choice 

~ 2 pinches of salt (to bring out the sweet!) 

~ 1/2 cup dried cherries

~ 1/2 cup buckwheat (and another 1/2 to 1 cup for the top)

~ 1/2 to 1 cup cacao powder (or cocoa powder) 

~ (optional) 1/2 cup chocolate chips