...caveman crunch bars

Hey, JFwodfather - this post was inspired by and for CF Distinctions healthy diet blog (aka awesome Paleo recipes courtesy of members at the box), so feel free to re-post shamelessly :)

Sometime last fall, when I was getting into the swing of things with cooking, I stumbled upon the Civilized Caveman Cooking. I was looking for good breakfast-on-the-go recipes that I could a) throw into my bag for work, b) were paleo and c) scarf down in my left hand while scribbling notes with my right hand if the ER was busy.
Eureka - CRUNCH bars!
These Caveman Crunch Bars totally hit the spot!
I did tweak the original recipe a touch, so here's my version.

You'll need a 9 x 9 baking dish, mixing bowl and mini-food processor.

Get out all the ingredients and throw em on your counter. I buy in bulk at Trader Joe's whenever possible. If you get the big bags of nuts and seeds you'll be set for many batches of these bad boys.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 Cup Raw Almonds
• 3/4 Cup Raw Macadamia Nuts (can substitute walnuts; a much cheaper option)
• 1/4 Cup Raw Pepitas
• 1/4 cup salted and toasted sunflower seeds
• 1/4 Cup Finely Shredded Unsweetened Coconut
• 1/2 Cup Dried Dark Cherries (the no-sugar added ones)
• 1/2 Cup melted coconut oil
• 1/4 Cup Raw Organic Honey
• 2 Eggs ("Cavemen" would use Pasturized free-range eggs...)
• 1 Tbsp Penzey's Vietnamese Cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp Penzey's Cake Spice

If you are not lucky enough to live near a Penzey's, you poor poor soul, you can also put in 2 Tbsp of good cinnamon. I promised, it'll still be dericious. (And no, I did not spell that wrong. Dericious is a word. Just ask Danimal.)

Okay, you got everything? Here comes the fun part....

Some Assembly Required:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 Degrees F
2. Place your almonds and macadamia nuts in your food processor. Warn everyone around you that it is about to get very loud, then grind up the nuts until they are tiny chunks. We DON'T want nut dust or flour here. You want it chunky to give the bars some heft and hold together well.
3. Transfer the mixture to your mixing bowl and add all of the remaining ingredients. If the coconut oil is a solid, melt it. I microwave it in a pyrex measuring cup, then add the 1/4 honey on top until the liquid is at 3/4 cup total.
4. Mix well by hand to ensure an even distribution of ingredients. Bonus points if you use a fun spatula. (D's mom gave us one with a black cat on it - Boo!)
5. Spray a 9×9 Square baking dish with coconut oil cooking spray and then transfer your nut mixture to the dish. Lick the empty bowl.
6. Bake in your preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until the center of your bars pass the toothpick test
7. Once done, remove from the oven and let cool on the counter in the pan
8. Once you can handle the pan without oven mitts, place the bars in the refrigerator and let cool completely. This will harden them a touch so they stay together better when you cut em up.
9. Cut into bars.

Now wasn't that easy?!?! A little bit of effort and you have a whole stack of awesome paleo bars to take everywhere as breakfast on the go or snacks!  

In writing this up, I noticed that C.C. just added a new Apple Pie version. I know what I'm making next week...