One of the first things I discovered when I jumped into the big food blog world and healthy eating life style years ago was the fact that bliss balls are everywhere. E-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. I had never heard of those little balls of amazing-ness before but at the first bite I was hooked. Healthy treats that tasted much, much better than candy and were packed with good for you stuff! I have loved bliss balls ever since.
Fast forward to today. I no longer need a recipe for making bliss balls and am able to just throw something together, and I love them even more. I recently tried my first ever Lara Bar (I know, I am extremely slow). It was brilliant. Bliss balls – shaped as bars. What an invention! What a break through!
After this food revelation an idea got stuck in my head: Natural protein super food bars disguised as a “bliss-ball-bar”. The outcome was these super delicious and very nutritious bars. They are wonderfully sweet because of the dates, extra delicious thanks to the orange peel and raw chocolate layer and super filling due to the hemp and chia seeds. Perfect as a 3-o-clock-sugar-craving-stopper, late night snack or super healthy holiday treat this Christmas (the orange peel gives these bars a festive little touch).
These bars are crammed with good stuff. Hemp seeds are sometimes called the most nutritious seed in the world. They are packed with essential fatty acids such as omega 3 and omega 6 and contain a lot of protein including 9 essential amino acids (amino acids, which the body can’t produce itself). Chia seeds are comprised of 14% high quality protein and almost all the carbs within them are fibre, which can’t be digested and therefore doesn’t raise the blood sugar, but still leaving you feeling satisfied. They, too, contain omega 3 fatty acids. And lastly, whole buckwheat: these little gems are amazing! Despite the name buckwheat actually has nothing to do with wheat (making these bars gluten-free) and contains a lot of easy to digest protein. Enjoy!
- For the superfood bars:
- ¼ cup shelled hemp seeds/hemp hearts
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- ¼ cup rolled oats
- 1 tbsp. organic grated orange peel
- 1-3 tsp maca powder (optional)
- 1 cup pitted dates
- ¼ cup almond butter
- ¼ cup raw buckwheat groats
- For the chocolate layer:
- 2 tbsp.coconut oil
- 1 tbsp. cocoa or cacao powder
- 1 tbsp. maple syrup
- Garnish: orange peel, hemp seeds, chopped cranberries
- Place hemp seeds, chia seeds, oats, orange peel and maca poweder in a food processor and pulse to combine – just a few seconds. Add in the dates and almond butter and blend until everything sticks together. Lastly add the buckwheat groats and blend until they are evenly distributed.
- Press the mass out into a pan or box of Tupperware.
- Now make the chocolate layer by melting the coconut oil over a low heat and mix in the cacao powder and syrup.
- Pour over the bars and let sit in the fridge for at least one hour. If you're adding toppings, do this 10 minutes after pouring on the chocolate layer.
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Kristina says
I love superfood bars, they are so easy to make and are sooo delicious. These look yummy, but I was just wondering about using raw buckwheat groats – aren’t they quite hard to bite?