Pomegranate Season Is Here!
We have been waiting all year for Pomegranate Season...fresh Pomegranates are arriving from our local producers.
When I was a young teenager in southern California on my walk home from school a beautiful pomegranate bush grew over a brick wall just waiting for me to pick the delicious red fruit. I would come home with red juice dripping from my fingers.
Of course, at the time I didn't realize the health benefits of this exotic fruit that is native to Persia making it's way to California from Spanish missionaries. Full of antioxidants, vitamin C, potassium.
Pomegranates are known to have anti-inflammatory effects, help fight certain forms of cancer, may lower blood pressure, help fight joint pain, may lower risk of heart disease and help fight bacteria and fungal infection and improve memory!
Not only are they healthy for you they are tasty as well with a wonderful burst of flavor. We just had to share this recipe with you.
Pomegranate Organic Chocolate Breakfast Bar
This recipe is quick, easy and perfect if you want to make flavor-packed, chewy health bars. Although there is plenty of choice at the store if you want something like this, take a look at the label and you will find they are full of sugar, artificial chemicals and other ingredients you really don't need to put in your body. For this reason, it is best to make your own bars, using nutritious, tasty ingredients. Not only will you know exactly what is going into them, but you can enjoy a better, fresher flavor in every bite!
We are using organic old-fashioned (not instant) oats, organic unsweetened applesauce and pomegranate seeds as the main ingredients, adding nuts, dark chocolate and honey for flavor, along with milk and coconut oil to help hold them together.
You can also throw in any other ingredients you want to add, such as shredded coconut or dried fruit. Make sure your ingredients are sugar-free and organic whenever possible. If you wrap each bar in plastic wrap and refrigerate them, you will find they make great on-the-go breakfasts or snacks.
What You Need:
1 tablespoon melted organic coconut oil
1 ounce melted organic Untamed Confections Midnight Gold Dark Chocolate (we like orange or plain dark)
1/2 cup organic unsweetened applesauce
6 tablespoons milk (organic, almond, soy or dairy)
2 tablespoons Sonoran Desert Wildflower unfiltered raw honey
2 1/4 cups organic old-fashioned oats
1/2 chopped mixed organic nuts
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
1/2 teas sea salt
How to Make Them:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Melt 1/2 of the coconut oil and dark chocolate together in a bowl over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave, then stir in the applesauce, honey, milk, oats, nuts, fresh pomegranate seeds and the sea salt. Taste the mixture at this point to see if you need to add anything else.
If you need to adjust the recipe because it is too loose, add more oats. If it is not loose enough, add a little more milk.
Use the other half of the coconut oil to grease an 8-inch square pan. Press the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 12 minutes or until done. Let the mixture cool in the pan then slice into 10 bars.