I'll eat just about anything with "sticky" in the title, which prompted me to create a sticky energy bar my raw foodie friends and I can savor together. I've cast sesame seeds in a lead role here because I'm tired of seeing one of my favorite ingredients marginalized atop hamburger buns and everything bagels—they have a terrific earthy-nutty flavor and a delicate crunch that goes well with so many dishes. Moreover, their nutritional profile will leave you star-struck. Sesame seeds are a very good source of manganese and copper and a good source of protein, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, vitamin B1, zinc, and dietary fiber. Further, they contain two special types of fiber, sesamin and sesamolin, which are members of the lignans group and can lower "bad" cholesterol and help prevent high blood pressure. And did I mention chocolate? Namely, raw chocolate drizzle? Sesame seeds plus raw chocolate drizzle equals crazy good.
Ingredients
Makes 20 bars
Raw Chocolate Drizzle
Step 1
1. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil or parchment paper and grease the pan with coconut oil or vegetable oil.
Step 2
2. Place the nuts, sesame seeds, and chia seeds in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add the agave nectar, nut or seed butter, oil, vanilla, and salt. Process, using on/off pulses, until the mixture is blended and begins to stick together and clump on the sides of the bowl.
Step 3
3. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan. Place a large piece of parchment paper, wax paper, or plastic wrap (lightly greased with coconut or vegetable oil) atop the bar mixture and use it to spread and flatten the mixture evenly in the pan; leave the paper or plastic wrap to cover. Place the mixture in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Step 4
4. To prepare the chocolate drizzle: Mix the oil, agave nectar, and cocoa powder in a small bowl until blended. Remove the bar mixture from the freezer, uncover, and decoratively drizzle or spread with the chocolate mixture. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or place in the freezer for 1 hour until the mixture is firm.
Step 5
5. Using the liner, lift the mixture from the pan and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 20 bars. Store in the refrigerator or freezer.
Nutrition Per Serving
BAR TIPS
–Coconut oil helps to hold these bars together; vegetable oil will not work in its place. You can, instead, add an additional 2 tablespoons natural, unsweetened raw nut or seed butter or, if you have access to it, raw butter.
–If you are not following a raw diet, you can drizzle the bars with the Chocolate Bar Coating
BAR KEEPING
Tightly wrap the bars individually in plastic wrap.
REFRIGERATOR: 1 week
FREEZER: 3 months in airtight container; thaw 1 hour
BAR VARIATIONS
RAW HONEY BUN BARS
Use raw cashews as the nuts and raw honey as the sweetener. Replace the cocoa powder with an equal amount of raw, all-natural, sweetened vanilla vegan protein powder.
RAW STICKY ALMOND FUDGE BARS
Use 3 cups raw almonds for the nuts and omit the sesame seeds. Reduce the chia seeds to 1/4 cup and add 1/3 cup raw, unsweetened cocoa powder along with the agave nectar. Use raw almond butter for the nut butter.
How would you rate Sticky Sesame Bars with Raw Chocolate Drizzle?
Leave a Review
Reviews (4)
Back to TopThese were tasty. The food processor makes for quick prep. I followed the recipe using almonds for the nuts and tahini for the nut butter. I used the cocoa powder I had on hand (not raw as specified).
Anonymous
Pointe Claire, QC
2/20/2017
These bars were excellent! I made the chocolate drizzle and once I tasted it on its own I was very skeptical about using but thought I would try the recipe as is first. So glad I did because once on the bars it tasted fantastic. My husband and I both loved this and we look forward to playing around with nut and seed combinations.
plgraham
Southern Ontario
7/10/2016
I LOVE this recipe. I used almonds, shredded coconut and extra chia seeds as I didn't have sesame seeds on hand. They turned out delicious especially with the chocolate drizzle.
dallascrawfo
Manitoba
6/25/2014
美味!提醒你的杏仁味w的乐趣ith extra crunch. Cut into small 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" portions. A little of this will fill you up. My choices: Bottom portion - almonds, almond butter, substituted 1/2 of the sesame seeds with flax, agave nectar, added another 1/2 tsp of vanilla. Top portion - butter crisco (was already super coconut flavored from just the bottom portion) and honey. Doubled the top portion and spread evenly to cover the top
micheleblum7
Phoenix, AZ
5/16/2014
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