Raspberry Oat Bars

These are technically a dessert type food but they’re so goddamn healthy you could have some with breakfast too if you really want!

Serves: Makes 16 (depending on how you cut ‘em)

INGREDIENTS:

3 cup rolled oats

2 tbsp chia seeds

1 tbsp date syrup (maple works too)

4 cup frozen raspberries (or any frozen berry will do)

1 cup raw sunflower seeds

1 dash salt

1 tbsp sunbather

1 cup, pitted, chopped dates

DIRECTIONS:

First you’re going to make delicious chia jam. If you’ve already got some then you can skip this step. Take your frozen raspberries and throw ‘em in a pot on the stove and start cooking them down. When they get mushy toss in the chia seeds and date syrup and mix it up. Give it a little taste and if you need it sweeter add a little more syrup.

Set in the fridge and let it settle down to a nice cool temperature for at least a half an hour or longer.

While that shit is happening you can keep your ass busy with the rest of it. Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a 9 inch pan with parchment - have a little extra to overhang so you can pull that shit out when it’s done without burning your fucking hands.

In a food processor combine the sunflower seeds, oats, and salt and process until it’s a bit of a crumbly course flour. Then add the dates and pulse that shit until it’s all nice and mixed together!

Set aside 1 1/4 cup of the mixture for your topping. Take the rest and spread it across the 9 inch pan and press it down hard into the pan. Wet your fingers a bit so that shit doesn’t stick and really flatten it out all over. Take a fork and poke some holes into it all over - sorta like you do with a baked potato (if you've never baked a potato just stab the fucking thing a few times - it's not rocket science).

Bake, uncovered, for 14-18 minutes (depending on your oven). It should be firm to the touch. It’s not going to get golden, so don’t wait for that. Let it cool in the pan for 40 minutes or so and then put it in the freezer to chill the fuck out for 30 minutes or more.

Lift the slab out and slice it into 16 squares (4x4). I mean, fuck, cut ‘em however the hell you want. They’re your bars!

Smash these fuckers into your mouth. Again - by the looks of 'em they should be a dessert or snack but given that they're all whole foods you can eat 'em when-the-fuck-ever.

Leftovers should be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days. If you want ‘em longer they can be kept in the freezer for at least a month or two.

TIPS:

Feel free you use whatever berries you want. Use the same amount.

Don’t like sunflower seeds? Fuck ‘em, use whatever seeds or chopped up nuts you want. I was just trying to make these school friendly. Add some dried fruit and coconut if you want to. Fucking live it up!

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