Celebrating Summer all week with my favourite Summer Recipes. Plus, this Thursday we’re sipping on summer! Starting on Thursday, June 17th, the first 50 peeps to get their copy will also receive a free copy of Whole Foods for Whole Health Mp3. Get your sweet little sun-kissed hands on the greatest collection of booze-optional summer cocktail, quencher, sipping smoothie and frozen treat recipes in the newest Making Love In The Kitchen e-Guide To Health Summer Sipping. Bonus alert! The quick acting 1st, lucky 13th, delectable 42nd, and late in the game 50th person to purchase Summer Sipping will win one of my fave Summer Sipping accessories, the Darma Glass Straw!
Guest Post by Carrie Forbes of Gingerlemongirl.com
I first learned about Meghan in 2009 with her first tutorial, the Green Smoothie Cleanse! I made 3 green smoothies a day for 3 days with Meghan and learned more about real nutrition during that week than I had in my entire life. I blogged about my experience and I can honestly say it changed my life.
Over a year later my (and my husband’s) eating habits have completely changed. Most of our meals are vegetarian, and we eat superfoods every single day. My husband still uses sugar in his southern style sweet tea, but other than that, processed white sugar has left our diet.
I still have green smoothies several times a week, often for breakfast.
Because of Meghan I have learned how to prepare and eat real, nourishing, whole, living, and healing foods.
The recipe I’m sharing today uses several delicious superfoods, is seriously easy to make, and is perfect for summer! These bars are lightly sweetened with fresh pineapple, dates, and raw honey. Chock full of healthy fiber and plant-based proteins, these Tropical Pineapple Date Bars are the perfect afternoon snack.
Tropical PIneapple Date Bars
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Ingredients (9-12)
For the Bars
- 1/2 cup ground almonds
- 1 cup certified gluten free rolled oats
- 1/2 cup quinoa flakes
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons raw honey(linkhttp://meghantelpner.com/product/raw-honey/)
- 1/4 cup hot water mixed with 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
For the Filling
- 1 cup crushed pineapple (I use fresh pineapple, which I pulverize in the magic bullet)
- 3 medjool dates, pitted, and finely chopped
Optional Toppings
- 2 tablespoons raw pumpkin seeds
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rub coconut oil on the bottom of an 8×8″ glass baking dish & set aside.
In a large bowl mix together ground almonds, rolled oats, quinoa flakes, shredded coconut, and baking soda. Using your hands or a fork mix in coconut oil & honey into the rolled oat mixture. You will have a crumbly dough.
Set aside 1/3 of the crumbly dough into a small bowl for the topping of the bars.
With the remaining 2/3 of dough mix in the hot water & ground flax seed mixture.
Press the dough into the greased 8×8″ glass baking dish.
In a small bowl mix the crushed pineapple with the chopped dates. Pour the pineapple mixture over the pressed dough.
Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 of crumbly dough over the pineapple/date filling.
Sprinkle raw pumpkin seeds over the top if you would like!
Bake for 15-20 minutes until bars are golden brown and smell amazingly delicious!
Cut into 9 large bars or 12 smaller bars. Let cool on the counter and then store in the fridge in an airtight container. These are BEST right out of the oven after being cooled, but they are also incredibly good from the fridge!
Carrie Forbes is the author of the successful gluten free food & recipe blog: Gingerlemongirl.com. She blogs regularly sharing original gluten free recipes with an emphasis on eating natural, whole, mostly vegetarian foods. Carrie is also a freelance gluten free food writer with articles and gluten free recipes that have recently appeared in Taste of Home’s Healthy Cooking, Delight Gluten Free, TheExaminer.com, The W.H.O.L.E. Gang, and $5DollarDinners.com.
Summer Recipe Guest Blogging Contest
The search is on for the best summer recipes! What is your favourite summer dessert recipe? Send it along to hello (at) meghantelpner (dot) com with a brief tale of how you developed, when you first made, where you found it etc. in 500 words or less, and even better, with a photo and if we choose it to post on the blog, a guest blogger you will be! Summer guest posts will be featured throughout the summer, with voting and winning in August. No chance of winning if you don’t get in the game!
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I’m truly HONORED Meghan! Thank you SO much for featuring my recipe on your blog!
Quinoa flakes? Is that different from regular quinoa? I haven’t heard of flakes before.
Hi Amy! Quinoa flakes are just organic quinoa seeds that have been cooked & steam-rolled into little flakes so that they cook quickly for a breakfast cereal. They are a wonderful, high protein alternative to rolled oats (for people who cannot tolerate oats). I buy the ancient harvest brand: http://www.quinoa.net/145/154.html
I always wondered how quinoa flakes are made. I should keep you on here more often Carrie!
Can I volunteer for that Meghan!
haha! Thank you so much for letting me share a recipe!!
I found you on Carrie’s blog through this guest post and I’m so glad I did! I need to get up the courage to try these bars though! I’m a new gluten free blogger so I will work on a good summer dessert and send it your way!
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