Sweet and Salty Bars (Kopie)

*****
This isn't an official "recipe" (surprise, surprise), but here is a list of the ingredients that I used.
Play around with whatever nuts, seeds, or fruit you want to add.

1lb of pitted dates (found in the bulk sections of health food stores)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of cinnamon
about a cup of almonds, roughly chopped
a few handfuls of rolled oats AND rolled wheat
large handful of salted sunflower seeds (you don't have to use salted seeds, but I crave salt after a run so I decided to throw in something a little bit salty.)
large handful of raw pumpkin seeds.
child size [see photo below] handful of flax seeds.
handful of chocolate chips

Puree the dates in a food processor until a paste starts to form
(this is your "glue" to hold your bar together)
Add vanilla and cinnamon.
Continue to puree until it forms a big crazy date-paste ball inside your machine.
(at this point it doesn't look very awesome)
Now is the fun part!
Put your date-paste-ball and all of your other ingredients into a large bowl and get some adorable little hands to mix it for you.
Mix and mix and add a little more of this and that until you've fit as many nuts and seeds as the dates will hold.

The mixture is soft and it leaves you with a few options for how you want to shape your bars.
You could even roll them into bite sized little snacks.
I wanted to cut them, so I pressed them out onto a pan and put them in the freezer for about an hour, so they would cut easily. I decided to keep them in the freezer to store them--it only takes a few minutes for them to thaw out when you are ready for a snack.

These are pretty high calorie (so don't eat them all at once!), but those nuts and seeds are packed with healthy fats and protein that your body will love as an afternoon snack, or pre/post workout.
Also a great filling snack for your kids....and they will think they are cookies. perfect.
http://inthelittleredhouse.blogspot.nl/2012/03/sweet-and-salty-bars.html