No bake pecan pie bars

By Kathy Smart, RNC

Serves 12

Pecan Pie. My dad’s favourite. Also, it was my grandfather’s. My dad often tells the story of his dad adding maple syrup and heaps of ice cream and then brown sugar on top of his sugar pie or pecan pie. (Yeah, we have a sweet tooth.)

So, when I made this recipe, I made it remembering him and his health.

Why? This tastes like pecan pie, but without the damaging white sugar.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of pecan halves
• 1 cup of fresh Medjool dates, pitted (or regular pitted dates)
• ½ teaspoon each of sea salt and vanilla extract

Add all of the above in a food processor. Blend until it starts to become gooey and sticky.

Line an eight-by five-inch pan with parchment paper.

Massage the pie filling gently and add to the pan. Gently pat down.

Put it in the fridge for a few hours.

Done.

Photo Credit: Gord Weber

Kathy Smart, Holistic Nutritionist of the Year, gluten-free TV chef, North America’s expert for healthy gluten-free living, is a best-selling author of Live the Smart Way: Gluten-Free Cookbook.