I have been fixated on omega 3′s (more on that in a minute). I have also been fixated on creating a new dessert bar recipe (I think you can understand that one). Two fixations came together and these tasty raw walnut cacao bars were born.
First, lets talk omega 3′s. Why the fixation, you ask? Well, they are critical for brain and heart health, fight inflammation, and reduce your risk of depression amongst other things. Our bodies don’t make them, we need them and vegan diets tend to be heavy on omega 6 and lacking in the 3′s. In fact, an omega 3 deficiency is prevalent in our diets today because of how our food is processed and the dietary choices we make.
One of the first things we think of for Omega 3′s is fish and fish oil. Interestingly enough, with fish being farmed and fed diets of grain instead of their traditional diet of plants and algae, the levels of omega 3 have been seriously declining. But since a raw, vegan diet doesn’t include fish, where else can you get your omega 3′s? Great sources are flax seeds, chia seeds and walnuts! It is good to note that greens also contain higher levels of omega 3′s so drink your green drinks!
With it’s own antioxidant properties, cacao (chocolate) makes a great pairing with walnuts. I made a quick raw cashew crust (yes you can find raw cashews here), a lovely walnut filling and topped the whole thing off with a tasty, easy cacao ganache. Delicious and filling, these bars shout bakery case…no one will believe they are a healthy raw snack!
For the crust, I used raw cashews from Navitas Naturals. They use a special process to keep the extraction under low heat so they are truly raw. You can find them here: Raw Cashews .
To get a fine flour, I used the dry container for my Vitamix.
To get the finest flour, process the cashews in batches, sift and reprocess the left over chunks with the next batch. You will get a beautiful, fine cashew flour that will mimic a real pastry crust.
Raw Walnut Cacao Dreamy Bars
(makes 64 1-inch bars)
Crust:
- 1 cup cashews
- 3 tablespoons cacao
- 1 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar or other liquid sweetener
- 1/2 cup hulled hemp seeds
- 2/3 cup dried coconut, unsweetened
- 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup coconut butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup (not raw but used in many raw recipes)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Glaze:
- 1/4 cup cacao
- 1/4 cup agave (or other liquid sweetener)
- 1/8 cup coconut oil, melted
{ 44 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m always looking for ways to naturally supplement my Omega-3 intake and walnuts are one of my absolute favorite foods!! These bars look delicious and rich–I’ll definitely be making them soon! Thanks for the recipe
oh my gosh that looks truly delightful!
I no longer use Agave, since learning what is being sold as Agave is 90% High Fructose Corn Syrup, and that Agave has been linked to liver disease.
Elaine L. James, BASW, BSN, RN
These look wonderful. By chance, did you experiment with other nut meats besides walnuts? Before I attempt my own trial and error process, what did you try? What results were more desirable than others? I am very allergic to walnuts, sadly, they make my tongue and throat numb and a little puffy. Thank you!
Love your creativity in the kitchen. Photos are lovely too. Cannot WAIT to try these, adding ingredients to my grocery list now!!! Thank you Susan!
Elaine: I originally wasn’t going to publish your comment because it is very misleading and inaccurate. High fructose corn syrup is made from corn. Agave nectar is made from agave plants. While you do have to be diligent about selecting an agave nectar from a trusted source (as in all our food selections), for it to be 90% high fructose corn syrup, it would have to be labeled that way. As to the liver disease comment, fructose, not agave, ingested in very high levels is “associated with an increased risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, according to a study published in June 2008 in “Journal of Hepatology.” Dr. Weil, a highly respected integrative physician writes about the study here: http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400722/Is-Agave-Syrup-Dangerous.html
This leads me to one of the things that I really appreciate about good agave. You need very little to sweeten. If you look at the bars in this recipe, there is 5 tablespoons of agave in the entire recipe of 64 servings. That means you get .07 tablespoon of agave when you eat one of these bars. If using traditional sweeteners, you would use much more of the sweetener.
While I do not promote agave as a “health food” and I think we need to be very conscious of our consumption of all sugars, a good, raw, pure agave can be an acceptable alternative sweetener.
These look incredible! I always have cacao in the house and don’t always know what to do with it. I’m loving this recipe! I’ll just need to pick up some coconut oil!
I just love your images, beautiful photography.
This looks absolutely delicious! I would make it right now if I had cashews!!
Thank you, Angie!
These bars look heavenly. What an amazing mix of different nuts and flavours! I will see what I can do to replace the hemp seeds.
Make them and they are delissssous…of course I did not just eat one. like a whole row..
The substitution of almond meal for the cashews worked very nicely. This recipe was so simple and delicious. This was my first visit to your web site.
Wow, these look so great… I can almost taste them!
These look and sound awesomely good. Quick question; coconut butter, can regular butter be substituted for it or coconut oil?
And yes, three cheers to agave. Liver health has recently become one of big interest to me. Please folks think about, next to the skin, the liver is the biggest organ. Everything and I mean EVERYTHING including our hormones and what we put on our skin needs to be dealt with by our liver.
Eat well, be well, live well
In this recipe, I would not sub coconut oil for the coconut butter for flavor. But in a pinch, it would function similarly, just not taste the same. Butter? I have no idea but I would doubt it as it doesn’t have the same properties as the coconut butter. I honestly don’t even have it in my kitchen and never use it. Cheers!
What beautiful photography!! And great response about the agave!
Susan, I made these for my girlfriends last weekend and they LOVED THEM!!! I didn’t have much agave, so I substituted raw honey. They were so decadent! They are very rich, but my girlfriends were happy to take some home with them…LOL
My gawd those look insanely great! I would love to make them.
These sound amazing! Love the layers and all the ingredients! I wish I had one to indulge in right now!
Do you think this recipe (or other desert recipes that call for it) could be made without the oil?
The oil is what binds the ingredients together and adds structure. So, you would have to rework the entire recipe and I don’t have any suggestions as to what you could substitute. Cheers!
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have just made this and it is amazing! I used white chia seeds instead of hemp and it was to die for! My 3 year old had a tantrum as she wanted to eat the whole lot!!! Thank you!!
Thanks Susan, this recipe is amazing, it will soon be ready my Sorrento walnuts and I absolutely have to prepare it, I think a few bits I could freeze …… eat at Christmas. An embrace of light Italian. But you when you make a trip here in Italy? I host you happy, you just arrive with the plane and we’ll come to take me and my daughter at the airport of Capodichino.
Hi… coconut butter? Do you make this or buy this? I live in Calgary Alberta Canada and I don’t think I have seen this? Help? Thanks.
Hemp seeds or hearts??
Love the pics and love the devotion you put into your passion.
I’m going to make another batch tonight and.ill
be using hemp hearts.
As stated in the recipe, I used hulled hemp seeds. Cheers!
Great dessert! I made a couple of substitutions (I didn’t want to have to run to the store) and one addition. I substituted almond flour for the cashews, Coconut Nectar for the agave, and ground flax seeds (only 1/4 cup) for the hemp seeds. Added Organic Wild Bourbon Vanilla Bean Powder (1 tsp.) (purchased from Z Naturals) to the filling. Turned out great! My family loves this dessert and will definitely make again!
Where do I get Coconut butter? I have not seen it-just all those other butter’s that I don’t use. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks
I am thinking I might want to try these for my upcoming birthday . . .
I am not able to use agave, honey, or maple syrup. I usually use dates or fruit or stevia to sweeten. Any ideas of how I could substitute? Thanks!
Your photography is stunning! Thanks for sharing some of your recipes. mmmm
? On the Raw Walnut Cocca Dreamy Bars, would any know what the fat content is? I am looking for something that has a high 20 grams of fat(good fats preferably) pre serving.
There are many recipe calculators on-line. You can enter the ingredients and portions and they will give you all the nutrition data. Cheers!
I see someone has been watching meg mcmurrays videos on youtube
Thank you sooo much for this recipe. I love the mix of different nuts & seeds, and I needed a break from dates (as the sweetener). My family loves these bars – we really appreciate your blog!
These taste fantastic. Just made them and can’t wait for my husband to come home and try them. The only thing is that removing them from the glass dish, I struggled with the bottom crust staying attached to the middle layer. Any tricks or secrets anyone could share. The glaze is delicious. So excited, made your orange cheesecake two weeks ago and really enjoyed it, terrific texture.
Make sure the bottom layer is still quite soft when you add the second layer. Also, A layer of parchment paper doesn’t hurt (on the bottom). Press the mixture in.
These bars are delicious!! Big hit for my non-vegetarian, vegan friends too!! Thank you Susan
I have been raw for a little over 4 years now and most recipes call for the nuts to be soaked 4 hours or overnight and then to dehydrate. I know that soaking is to remove toxins and dehydrate to make crunchy will this method affect the outcome?
If the recipe calls for dry nuts, yes, soaking and dehydrating is fine. I soak and dehydrate all my nuts. I have written about this on the site. Thanks for asking!
Susan, thanks for the response on the bottom layer. And, I thought about parchment after the fact, thanks for validating. My husband LOVED (let me repeat myself, LOVED) these. Thank you.
I just made this for an easter pot luck..I haven’t tasted a full square but I know its going to be great! I tasted each layer individually as I was making it:) I had to substitute half of the coconut oil in the glaze with coconut butter because every place open today only had refined coconut oil not unrefined and I had 1 1/2 table spoons of coconut oil left. It still seemed to turn out great. I also put cacao in the filling on accident and freaked out..only to find that it turned out just fine. Thank you for this great recipe.. i’m sure it will convince my friends that my “bird food” preference isn’t all that bad.
Stephanie, So glad you made this! Sounds like you got quit successfully creative!