Raw apricot, coconut & cashew bars

Marathon training has got me seriously thinking about carbs and the serious lack of them I’ve had in my diet. I’d never really thought about carbs much before- at least not in a positive light.  Carbs are the source of all evil, aren’t they? They cause bloating, gas and don’t they make you fat? Well, turns out a trip to see a sports nutritionalist and there’s a reason why my body’s feeling  run down and my brain’s a little foggy. Carbs. And not enough of them. Did you know that the human brain needs 130g of carbs a day to properly function? My endocrinologist has been trying to get me to keep my carbs at 30g a day the past year to help with my thyroid. Now, that’s a serious amount of brain fog to contend to. Turns out an endurance athlete needs closer to 235g or carbohydrate a day, which is why I’ve turned my attention to carbohydrates and who knows, maybe we will turn out to be BFF’s.

Enter the raw apricot, coconut & cashew bars.

These are more than just a great source of carbohydrate, protein and fat to me but they are also all natural, free of any added sugars and perhaps the biggest plus of all- they don’t require the oven to be turned on, which automatically upgrades them into the realm of super-stardom.

They are my version of a Larabar- which are just about the only packaged sweet thing I will buy because I not only understand the ingredients but can read them off in less than five seconds.  The downside of Larabars’ is that they all seem to use dates as their binding base- and so I thought I’d mix it up a bit and add some color too. These are made with dried apricots, raw cashew nuts, coconut, a dash of coconut oil and vanilla extract (which is optional). And at 120 calories per bar you won’t feel the need to run the extra mile…or in my case eat two and then go ahead and run that extra mile.

Raw apricot, coconut & cashew bars

Makes 16

170g/1 cup dried apricots
140g/1 cup raw cashew nuts
25g/1/3 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
1 1/2 tsp coconut oil

• Line the base of a small baking tin (mine was 9 x 5 inches) with parchment paper and grease with oil. The smaller the tin the thicker the bars will be. Blitz the dried apricots in a food processor until very finely chopped- almost pureed.

• Add the remaining ingredients and pulse until combined and the cashews are coarsely chopped. Press into the tin evenly,  cover with plastic wrap and chill until set. Once set cut into bars.