Home made "KIND Bars" aka Lakshmi Bars

Lakshmi Bars!! Well, I had to make something to share with me excellent friend Leah on our bike ride. She was bringing her much hyped Leah Bars after all. Of course, after all the excitement and preparation of yummy snacks, Seattle turned on the taps and our ride was washed out :( Thankfully Lakshmi Bars store beautifully in the freezer! These don't hold together quite as well on day 1 but by day 2 they basically hold together like a regular granola bar but have the benefit of not having all the fat and sugar. I didn't measure anything (I mean eyeballing is so much easier and exciting :)

The most important thing to note is that these are infinitely adaptable. I completely made this combo up based on what looked good in the bulk section. Other good combinations might be macadamia and apricot; Cashew nut and date; Mixed nuts, dried pineapple and raisins etc etc etc!!!

Dry ingredients:
2 cups toasted pumpkin seeds
1 cup toasted pecans
1 cup raw almonds
1/4 cup grated coconut (unsweetened)
3/4 cup dried cherries finely chopped (raisins or cranberries would work well too)
3 Tbsp ground flax seeds
1 tsp cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses (giving a lovely almost coffee flavor to these bars)
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt

Method:
1) Pulse almonds in a food processor to make a coarse almond meal. I stopped here to leave some texture but you could go all the way to almond butter if you want to.
2) Combine all Dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix together
3) Combine all wet ingredients, except vanilla) in a separate bowl and microwave until soft enough to easily combine
4) Add vanilla and then add wet to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. It will look a bit like wet sand at this point and like it might not come together but fear not! It will!
5) Pour into a 8x8 or 9x9 square baking pan line with overhanging foil (for easy removal)
6) Use a piece of saran wrap and a lot of FIRM pressure to create and even layer.
7) Place in the fridge for a few hours or overnight (or the freezer if you're impatient like me).
8) Remove and cut into bars with a large and sharp knife. Its much easier to use a large knife and cut through the bars with one stroke. A serrated knife just makes a mess.
9) Wrap individual bars in saran wrap and store in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for a very long time. They won't last that long. I've already eaten two in less than 24 hours.

They were particularly delicious after my first mini brick (bike followed by run)...nom nom nom. I'm already looking forward to my next batch...