AfroVeganChick Turns Six With Raw Cacao, Cherry, And Peanut Butter Oat Bars

Happy New Year! Starting another it off right with yummy treats! 

Goodbye 2017! Hello 2018!
Six years has passed already. The time has flown by with so much happening in between the posting of recipes, personal experiences (family and friends still making those uncomfortable, unfunny animal jokes), the glorious, ever changing art world, adventure traveling across the globe, eating out vegan, and other miscellaneous entertainments that my writing has come to on this blog.
I will always be grateful for the countless visits, comments, and shares. I wouldn't have thought anyone cared, especially in the beginning when post views were so few. It was discouraging that one could open up a social media account at the same time as someone else and their numbers blow up considerably while the other barely peaks. Giving up is a lot easier than staying on the path. I got bitten by a friendly bug, often super excited over a new recipe that turned out better than hoped. Sure, my photography skills lacked and were likely the cause of little word-of-mouth buzz, but still, I was loving vegan creating in a way that my prior thirteen years of vegetarianism hadn't revealed.
Today, I share a raw vegan recipe that sort of commemorates the road I have been venturing at home. In case you haven't noticed, I use less oils more and more, relying on other fats. These simple cacao, cherry, and peanut butter oat bars have the oils of peanut butter helping to hold bars together as well as delicious sticky cacao and cherry mixture that acts as a sweet glue. They have an irresistibly, chewy peanut butter and jelly taste with a chocolaty edge.

Raw Cacao, Cherry, and Peanut Butter Oat Bars Ingredients and Preparation

2 cup dried cherries, soaked
3 tablespoon cacao powder
2 1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup salted peanut butter (I used crunchy but creamy is okay)
1/4 cup slivered almonds

Soak cherries overnight. Drain a little of the water. Add in cacao powder and pulse cherries and cacao together until creating a thick, even mixture.

In a large bowl, combine the cacao-cherry pulp with oats, peanut butter, and almonds.

Mix well. 

Press into a rectangular container. This one pictured is 4 1/2" x 8" x 1 1/2." Refrigerate for four to six hours. Cut into bars.

Serve. Try not to eat all the bars in one sitting.