In the spirit of the real food remix series we did for healthy holiday desserts, I came up with these Raw Maple Pecan Bar bites for my Christmas family party yesterday.  I did these and a couple other real food desserts, including this raw superfoods cookie platter.

These pecan maple bar bites were created out of necessity and with what I had left over in the kitchen from Christmas party preparations.

Necessity because I didn’t have enough superfood cookie balls to feed an Italian family who likes to eat! …and left over ingredients because all I had left were pecans, a few tablespoons of maple butter, a handful of medjool dates and overall short on time.

I had to put on the thinking cap and get creative.  Often times when we do get creative in the kitchen it can lead to some awesome culinary surprises (as well as some total disasters. i’m guilty. but that’s how we learn!).  I always encourage getting creative in the kitchen and having fun with it.

Alas…pooling my food resources on hand, these raw pecan maple bar bites were born and surprisingly, they turned out great!  

They are fully raw, have paleo & vegan-friendly ingredients, are gluten-free,  dairy-free, and processed junk free.  Even though I made these for Christmas, they can be made any time if you’re looking for a healthy treat to satisfy that sweet tooth.

Slice maple pecan bar into bite size pieces

Base Ingredients:

2 cups raw pecans, soaked for 4 hours minimum

2 tablespoons maple butter

8 medjool dates

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground clove

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Maple glaze ingredients:

2 tablespoons maple butter

1/4 cup coconut milk

Directions

1. Place all maple bar base ingredients in a food processor or blender and mix until all incorporated well

2. Once you have your mixture, get a baking dish, pan, or container that will yield the size of bar you want in terms of thickness. I got MacGyver and used a lid from a to-go food container that was 8″ x 5″ inches and had about 1/2 inch depth thickness, ultimately yielding 20 pieces (see image above base ingredients list where I sliced it on the cutting board).  Which ever you choose, line it with saran wrap and press and mold your mixture into it nice and tight.

3.  Place in freezer for an hour.  Time to prepare the maple glaze…

4.  Add coconut milk and maple butter to a blender and whiz up

5.  Once maple bars were in the freezer for an hour, what I did was removed the base mold from the container lid I used by lifting the saran wrap from the sides (comes out nice and easy), flipped it over, removed saran, and added it to a plate that it fit on with some room to spare (and the plate fits back in your freezer).

6.  Once you’ve got it on your plate, take your maple glaze and start pouring over the top evenly.  Let it drop down the sides, that’s fine. 

7.  Add your plate back to the freezer and let it setup for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.  

8.  Once it’s setup remove and cut into size you want.  I cut into bite size pieces to be served on a platter (see both images above).  

Keep these ones stored in the freezer rather than the fridge and simply take out about 5-10 minutes in advance before serving.  

Remember to enjoy in moderation while following a healthy 80/20 lifestyle and eating according to your metabolic type for optimal health, energy, vitality and athletic performance!

Buon Appetito!