Coconut Almond Cocoa No-Bake Bar and Smoothie Combinations

Now that fall is officially here, I think I may have been trying to drink as many summer fruit and vegetable smoothies these past two weeks. Frosty smoothies are usually not the first thing I want when I wake up in the chilly morning.

Some of the smoothies I make I add protein powder. Right now my favorite brands are Vega One Vanilla Chai and Plant Fusion protein powder both Chocolate and Vanilla. Typically I only use half a scoop which is about 10-12 grams. Soy milk is my current non-dairy milk that I drinking lately. Most soy milk brands have 8-10 grams of protein per cup, therefore between the cup of soy milk and the 1/2 scoop of protein powder gives me 20 grams total, not including the protein from the vegetables and fruits added to the smoothie. 

The smoothies I make, usually have 2-3 servings of vegetables, and 1.5-2 servings of fruit. Three fruits may be listed but I use half servings of each fruit. In contrast, I use a 2 servings of leafy greens and one serving of cucumber or celery. 

This smoothie was made with kale, cherries, mango, cucumber, soy milk, 1/2 scoop of Plant Fusion chocolate protein powder

This smoothie was made from a beet, apple, celery, cucumber, coconut water, maca powder, and sesame seeds

                                                                                    This smoothie was made with frozen broccoli, banana, peaches, strawberries, cucumber, coconut butter, 1/2 scoop of Plant Fusion vanilla protein powder, and soy milk

Now for the no-bake Coconut Almond Cocoa Bar! 

This bar came about because I WANTED candy, specifically a candy bar. We do not typically keep candy in the house because we eat it, quickly, very quickly. 

My initial intention for this bar was to whirl some cashews, almond butter, maple syrup (no dates in the house right now), perhaps some oats in the food processor to make a sweet, nutty base which I could add chocolate chips by hand. I would then, roll into balls and eat them all over the next 3-5 hours. Homemade candy bars, all the indulgence but without the HFCS, or dairy products. 

What happen instead was 5 bars that I ate over 3 days before or after my workout. These bars besides the sweet, nutty base had maca powder, cocoa powder, shredded coconut, almond extract, and a scoop of Plant Fusion vanilla protein powder.  

I have a deep love affair with almond joy bars and this satisfies those flavors in addition to being  full of healthy fats, protein, and vitamins and minerals. 

Coconut Almond Cocoa Bar

makes 5

Ingredients: 

1/3 cup of almond butter

1/3 cup of cashews

2 tbsp of cocoa

1 tbsp of coconut shredded--plus addition tbsp for covering outside of bars

1/2-1 scoop of vegan protein powder -vanilla or chocolate

1/2 tsp of almond extract

1/4-1/3 cup of maple syrup or 6 dates soaked and a couple tbsp of water

1 tbsp of maca powder

Combine in food processor: cashews first and process until crumbly, add remaining ingredients except maple syrup. processed until well combined.  Add maple syrup slowly and when the dough starts form together, that is enough and you can stop the food processor. 

I placed my dough, which was not overly sticky at all, into a loft pan, froze it for an hour and then took it out and cut 5 bars.  Sprinkled my remaining shredded coconut and Voile all done. Keep remaining bars in air tight container in either fridge or freezer. .  

Enjoy!