Raw chai spiced coconut bars

Happy Monday, hope you are all having an awesome start to your first week in December!  Can you freakin believe it’s December already? Seriously, where did the time go?

I feel like this month is crazy for everyone, no matter what.  It’s the Holidays, it’s full-on winter which means everything takes a little longer (especially with kids – just try to get boots and a toque on my kid, I dare ya), for a lot of people you only have 21/2 real weeks of work left to get everything done to finish off the year and prepare you for the new one, and kids have two weeks off school.  Between all that and Christmas shopping, Christmas baking, Christmas decorating and Christmas parties – this month FLIES by.

So I thought I would try to help just a little by tempting you with a quick and easy recipe that is perfect for this time of year.  The recipe won’t take long, you can store them in the fridge for at least a week (I store mine for two weeks and sometimes more) so you’ll always have a quick snack, you can substitute them for one of the items you were going to bake which will cut your time down, and the cherry on top –  they taste like Christmas in a snack bar format.

INGREDIENTS

• 2/3 cup coconut cream*
• 2 tbsp coconut oil (room temperature)
• 2 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut + 1 tbsp for garnish
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tsp clove
• 1/2 tsp star anise, optional*  (star anise will give it a little added sweetness)
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp cardamom

*Special Note: take your can of coconut cream and put it in the fridge for an hour before you begin if possible.  The heavy creamy part will sit on top, which you can scrape off for the recipe.

DIRECTIONS

1. Line a brownie pan with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Blend together coconut cream, coconut oil, maple syrup, and spices (save about 1/2 a tsp to dust on top).
3. Add coconut and pulse in blender or food processor.  The bigger the pieces of coconut the flakier the bars will be.
4. Scrape mixture into the loaf pan and pat down.  Sprinkle on the remaining coconut flakes, and chai spice for garnish.  Lightly pat down and put in the pan in the freezer for an hour.
5. Remove from freezer, and let cool for 5 minutes.  Remove the bar from the pan and cut into squares.
6. Bars can be kept in the fridge for two weeks or in the freezer for a month.

That’s it guys – It’s basically everything in a food processor and you’re done.  And if you don’t have a food processor, you can do this in a blender as well, or by hand.  The coconut shreds will be a little larger, so the bars will just be a little flakier.

I hope this makes your Monday a little bit sweeter.

Here are a few of my favorite brownie pans:

                         

Till the next recipe,

Kristen xo