My fellow gym rats were delighted when I brought these Paleo friendly, high protein, gluten free snacks to the gym last week. The consensus? These gluten free power bars hit the spot.

Made with healthy, high protein almond flour and nutritious goji berries, the gang wolfed these down, then asked for more. I promised them I would post this recipe for gluten free power bars and so here it is.

First though, a bit about goji berries. Goji berries (also known as wolfberries) are a superfood, slowly gaining attention and popularity in this country.

Research shows that berries are superfoods and that eating berries such as goji berries, blueberries, cranberries, and strawberries can be beneficial for your health.  Berries contain powerful antioxidants and other compounds that can boost the immune system and lower cholesterol; further, it is thought that the nutrient properties in berries can prevent cancer, heart disease and other illnesses.

Goji berries in particular have compounds rich in vitamin A, beta-carotene and B vitamins.  These compounds are thought to have anti-aging benefits and boost immune function. Incidentally, goji berries have been used for centuries in Traditonal Chinese Medicine (TCM).

Dried goji berries tend to be a bit…dry. So I like to plump mine up before I use them by placing them in a bowl and pouring a bit of boiling water over them. This brings out their juicy goodness, makes them easier to digest and simply prevents them from being too hard.

When you plump your gojis, let them sit in the hot water for 10-15 minutes until the water is mostly absorbed, then discard any remaining water (there won’t be a lot).

Here are some more Paleo friendly bars that you may also like:
-Spicy Power Bars
-Cherry Vanilla Power Bars
-Apricot Power Bars

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Way back when, in 1997, during the dark ages of gluten free, I was diagnosed with celiac disease.  Now, 14 years later, this disease has had a devastating effect on my family –my mother has celiac, my sister has it, even my 12 year old son was diagnosed with celiac when he was 3 years old.  On the other side of the family, my mother-in-law lives with celiac disease.  This disease has been a scourge on my loved ones.

Celiac is a serious disease, many in the medical community think of it as a gateway auto-immune disorder –something that can lead to thyroid disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and even cancer.  This is why the gluten free diet is so important for people that have been diagnosed with celiac.  You can’t be on a “low gluten” diet.  If you have celiac you need to be 100% gluten free every single day of your life.  Thankfully, in my house we are.

While the gluten free diet is paramount for people that have celiac, some people are in the habit of saying that eating gluten free is such a challenge it will ruin your life.  I’m here to tell you that’s not the case.  Most wholesome natural foods are naturally gluten free.  Think veggies, fish, poultry, meat, fruits, nuts, seeds and a whole lot more.

That’s why I’m so pleased to be a part of Diane’s blogging event called 30 Days to Easy Gluten-Free Living.  Here’s how Diane summarized the event:

“I often read how difficult it is to live gluten free.  How gluten free tastes terrible and you’ll spend tons of money.  Some people talk about it like it’s a death sentence.  Well we’re here to tell you they are flat out wrong.  They are exaggerating to get you to buy their products. We are going to show you in 30 different ways over 30 days how living gluten free is easy, tasty and as inexpensive or expensive as you want to make it.”

This super quick and easy power bar recipe is my contribution to Diane’s fabulous event.  If you’re taking mom out for a hike this Sunday, pack these gluten free, vegan, high protein Cherry Vanilla Power Bars for a yummy Mother’s Day, energy boosting snack.

I just want to take a moment to thank Diane from The W.H.O.L.E. Gang for organizing this amazing event.  Diane is a very inspirational person and blogger.  She is a social activist who brings people together and educates the public at large.  Frankly, I just don’t have enough good things to say about her!

Here are some more yummy gluten free power bar recipes you may like:
-Melissa’s Mile High Energy Bars by Melissa from Gluten Free For Good
-Chocolate, Cardamom and Coconut Power Bars from Naomi of Milk for the Morning Cake
-Popeye Protein and Fruit Bars from Shirley of Gluten Free Easily

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This recipe was adapted from one by Pam Vagnieres‘ in an article called Make Your Own Protein Bars that ran last year in my local newspaper The Daily Camera.  These high protein, gluten free power bars are easy to make and remind me of a Lärabar, though these are super fresh since they’re homemade, and they’re also not quite as sweet.

My boys and their friends loved these bars and gobbled them up during spring break, when our house was boys central.

If cranberries aren’t your thing check out my other gluten free power bar recipes, Chocolate Espresso Power Bars, Spicy Power Bars and the crowd favorite Almond Power Bars.

For more yummy power bar recipes from other gluten free food bloggers check out:
-Sesame Snack Bars (Gluten-Free & Casein Free) from Lexie of Lexie’s Kitchen
-Popeye Protein and Fruit Bars from Shirley of Gluten free Easily
-The Best Ever Gluten-Free Power Bars from Debbie of The Gluten-Free ‘Dish’

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I’m eating one of these Spicy Power Bars as I type this.  I’m slightly obsessed with them.  Because they remind me of my past.

About 20 years ago, when I was living in New York City and had just hooked up with my adorable husband, I became very interested in Ayurveda.  One of the amazing practitioners that I learned from, Pratima Raichur, had created her own version of a healing tonic, referred to in Ayurvedic circles as chyawanprash.  Her product was called Bindi Chywangrans and it was delicious.  My friends used to ask me what it was and I would tell them it was a special, healing, energy supplement.  They teased me a lot about it!

Fast forward to the present.  About a month ago, I found some interesting looking energy bars in downtown Boulder.  I bought one and ate it.  It kept reminding me of a taste from my past, though I could not quite put my finger on it.  Finally, I realized that this bar tasted like Bindi!

Being the tinkerer that I am, I decided I would recreate the Nude Nutritionals Food Bars to taste even more Chwanpransh-like and my bindi bars were born thanks to Pratima (owner of Tej Clinic) and Nude Nutritionals (creator of the fabulous little grab and go bar).

Here’s my recipe for a super nourishing, delicious, tri-doshic power bar.

Note: You may want to try my other Power Bar recipe made with almonds!

Update: several readers have commented below that this recipe was not yielding enough to fill the bottom of an 8×8 baking dish. I remade this again today and realized that I needed to double everything, so that it filled up the entire pan –when I was testing this recipe I was smooshing different batches of each version into half a pan. So, you will find that every ingredient has doubled (except for the vanilla). Sorry for the mixup! (This is what happens when you write recipes at 2am!)

Giveaway mania continues to plow ahead.  The winner of Monday’s giveaway for a Pesticide Action Network bag is Kelly! Today’s giveaway is an Elana’s Pantry gift bag which includes one EP organic cotton canvas shopping tote, one organic cotton EP t-shirt and my book, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook.  To enter leave a comment below.

Update: this giveaway is now over and the winner was Lisa Vance!

Don’t forget to enter last weeks giveaway to win a case of Pacific Foods Broths and Soups! Also, stay tuned as next week I’ll be posting my recipe for Challenge No. 2 of the Everyday Chef Challenge. Voting officially begins Wednesday, September 29th!

I found out only yesterday that my book is now in its 5th printing just about a year after publication.  Over on Amazon.com I have received quite varied reviews and I appreciate them all 94 of them, especially this one.  If you’d like to add your two cents to the conversation, head on over to Amazon.com and leave a review.  It doesn’t matter how many stars you give me, what’s important is to join the chat.  Thanks everyone!

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Who doesn’t enjoy a good power bar?  One that is easy to travel with and renders a healthy snack on the go?

These gluten free Espresso Power Bars have a delicious espresso-chocolate-vanilla-ish flavor that makes them equally satisfying as a snack or dessert.  I found mine were just a tad crumbly, you may need to add a dash of water to help yours hold together well.

I adapted this recipe from one featured in a Daily Camera article on Pam Vaginieres and her protein bars.

I will be heading up to the mountains tomorrow to appear on Good Morning Vail (television show at 9:40am MST) where I will chat with Tricia Swenson and demo two gluten free recipes from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook (Smoked Salmon Leek Tart and Chocolate Chip Cookies).

Later that evening you can find me at The Bookworm in Edwards, Colorado at 6pm.  I will be holding a book discussion and signing from 6-8pm. Tickets are $25, which includes wine and gluten free appetizers from my book. Proceeds benefit the Gore Range Natural Science School.

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For the past few months, I have been playing around with power bar recipes. When I’m on the go, I want to grab something that is packed with nutrition, not too sweet and plenty tasty.

I’ve made this power bar recipe a bunch of times now and my taste testers (that would be my husband who is a very direct and rather stringent critic) have given it their official seal of approval (that would be eating an entire tray in two days flat).

When I saw Heidi’s video on power bars yesterday, I knew it was time to go ahead and post mine. For those of you who are not yet familiar with Heidi, I have mentioned her here a few times. She is my favorite food blogger and author of the delightful book, Super Natural Cooking.

I love her power bar video –her voice is so soothing and the content so tranquil that it might put you into a trance. It’s almost like watching a yoga video. Gorgeous shots of California’s Big Sur interspersed with her recipe –what more can I say? See this delightful video yourself!

These no bake, high-protein, high-fiber bars are based upon Melissa Diane Smith’s recipe for Amaretto Protein Bars in her book Going Against the Grain and are a cinch to make. The chocolate topping makes them seem a bit decadent (skip it if you must, they’ll still come out fine) –though dark chocolate, rich in anti-oxidants has now entered the echelon of power foods so I’ll keep it on mine.

By the way, the photo above is actually of Macadamia Power Bars. To make that recipe simply substitute raw macadamia nuts for the almonds and raw macadamia nut butter for the roasted almond butter.

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