Chocolate pecan pie bars

While searching for other recipes of healthy bars (like the energy cereal bars and quinoa bars that I recently made and posted), I found a recipe for chocolate pecan pie bars which sounded absolutely delicious to my ears and to my belly. After baking these "energy bars" (but already while baking them) I realized they couldn't be classified as "energy" bars in the sporty or nutritious sense, but rather in the sweet calorie bomb category.

These bars taste like a maple pecan pie with the added goodness of chocolate. It is not a light dessert so I recommend you eat it when very hungry or serve small portions. The chocolate pecan pie bars are truly delicious: if you love any and all ingredients in them, you should try them :-)

Chocolate pecan pie bars (16x25cm or 20x20cm or 8x8in pan)

Dough:
3.6 dl flour
112 g butter
0.6 dl brown sugar
57 g cream cheese, room T
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients until incorporated and obtaining a rough dough. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Transfer dough and flatten with hands. Bake in oven at 180C for about 10-12min, until starting to become golden.

Pecan filling:
1.8 dl neutral honey (I recommend maple syrup however)
1.8 dl brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp bourbon (or other)
6 dl chopped toasted pecan nuts
113 g roughly chopped dark chocolate

While the dough is baking, mix all ingredients (except for pecans and chocolate. Mix pecans and chopped chocolate and sprinkle on the baked dough. Add the egg-sugar mix and spread evenly. Bake for 40 min at 180C. Cover with aluminum foil if it starts getting brown to early.
Let the cake cool entirely in the fridge for a few hours before cutting out into small bars.

Gluten-free quinoa and fruit energy bars

If you like quinoa, then these quinoa energy bars are for you! After making great cereal bars with oats, I was eager to come up with a second cereal bars, but this time gluten-free and with loads of fruits. There are raisins, cranberries, dates, apples, coconut, pistachios, and many nuts.

These quinoa and fruit bars are great as snack at work or outdoors: I take a quinoa bar with me when skiing and I can last a full day without stopping for lunch. Try them, they're excellent (they even get better with time) and you can store them in the fridge for many days. Ah, and you can prepare these energy bars with your favorite kind of quinoa :-)

Recipe of quinoa and fruit energy bars

3.6 dl well-to-over-cooked quinoa
1.3 dl pecan nuts, finely chopped
0.3 dl sunflower seeds, finely chopped
1 dl pistachios, chopped
1.2 dl shredded coconut
4 tbsp flax seeds, roughly ground in a mortar
0.8 dl raisins
0.8 dl cranberries
6 medjool dates
1/2 apple*
1 dl almond butter/purée
0.6 dl honey
2 tbsp canola oil**

Combine dates, apple, almond butter, honey and oil in a bowl and blend until smooth (if you have a food processor use that, if not chop up dates and apple very finely and crush in a mortar). Mix dry ingredients (quinoa, nuts, dried fruit) in another bowl. Add wet viscous mix to dry ingredients and mix until a sticky mix. Transfer to a baking pan lined with parchment paper: 16x25cm if you want them thick (I did this) or a bigger pan if you want your bars thinner. Bake in the oven 30 min at 175 C until golden and a bit crunchy. Let the mix cool in the pan, then remove and cut into bars. Store in the fridge in an airtight box or in cellophane wrap.

*you can replace the apple with a ripe half banana

**you can use coconut oil if you prefer