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VEGAN VANILLA PECAN BARS

If vanilla cake and pecan pie had a baby, these would be the product. Imagine a moist, gooey bar that tastes like a vanilla buttery cake, but the texture of a gooey pecan pie and is all topped off with a creamy cashew icing. These are your way to break into Spring.

My daughter repeatedly kept saying “Mommy, these are sooo delicious!” over and over. I knew they were a winner. These bars are raw, gooey, moist, dense and just 8 ingredients. They are full of vanilla flavor, hints of caramel from coconut sugar and a butteriness from pecans. The cashews make them taste super creamy. I also add an odd ingredient, apple juice. It helps to balance out the flavors with a little acidity and aid in the vanilla cake-ish flavor.

They are more firm than they appear in the photos, as these sat out awhile and they soften some at room temperature. Keep them in the freezer for a perfect, firm right-out-of-the-freezer bite full of all your gooey vanilla dreams.

Coconut sugar. How I love you. It is my favorite sweetener that I use. It tastes just like caramel and is not heavily processed like regular sugar and is much lower on the glycemic index than cane sugar and even maple syrup. I love maple syrup and use it a lot in my baking, but I’ve actually started using coconut sugar more. It just makes everything taste better. Obviously, it is still sugar, so I would never call a sugar healthy, unless it is fruit, but it is one of the better ones to use out there.

There is coconut sugar in the bars and then some sprinkled on top of the icing and it’s truly delicious.

VEGAN VANILLA PROTEIN POWDER

I created these bars to feature Sprout Living‘s “Vanilla Lucuma” Epic protein powder. They recently asked me to review some of their new and improved flavors and I couldn’t resist trying them. I have used their products in the past and know them to be top notch among other plant-based proteins/products out there.

Most people think of smoothies when it comes to protein powders, but I wanted to share something a bit more exciting, so these vegan Raw Vanilla Pecan Dream Bars were born.

All of their products are some of the cleanest you can find, which is why I support them. Not to mention, they are the best tasting plant protein powder I have ever tried in my life. The “Vanilla Lucuma” is my absolute favorite and it tastes and smells delicious straight out of the bag, seriously. I’ve mentioned this a few times before on the blog. This is the same flavor I used for my Snickerdoodle Cookie Protein Bites.

HEALTHY PROTEIN POWDER

So many protein powders on the market have so many weird ingredients, additives, preservatives or chemicals. Well, not their products. The ingredients in the Vanilla Lucuma are: Yellow Pea, Sunflower Seed, Pumpkin Seed, Sacha Inchi, Cranberry Seed, Lucuma Fruit, Ceylon Cinnamon, Ginger Root, Vanilla Bean, Heirloom Red Banana, Jerusalem Artichoke, Baobab Fruit, Himalayan Pink Sea Salt and Stevia Leaf. Impressive.

All of their protein powders contain between 19-26 grams of protein per serving. I personally don’t believe in counting calories, macronutrients or obsessing over protein amounts, as it takes away the focus of eating healthy whole foods, but I know people have concern about plant protein out there.

According to Sprout Living, their products are: *Raw * Vegan *Organic *Non-gmo *Gluten-free

If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!