Apricot Energy Bars

The other weekend I was down in DC visiting my friend, Allison and while we were in a coffee shop she pointed out some gluten free baked goods from a 'paleo' inspired local bakery that she thought I might be able to eat on the GAPS diet.  At first I figured that I probably couldn't because they were using agave nectar as a sweetener. But the bar Allison usually gets didn't have any sugar in it, just fruit, nuts, eggs, and vanilla and she was right, I could eat them. So I bought one for the bus ride back to NYC.  After 2 hours of driving I opened up the package and took a bite.  At first I thought I might have bought the wrong bar because it tasted bread-like and the ingredients on the package didn't sound like it would result in a bread-like texture. Allison and I determined later that it must be the eggs that created that texture.  Since I really liked the bar I decided I would try to recreate it myself.  The original recipe had raisins and coconut and no almonds, but I like my version and think there is a lot of room for variety with different nuts and spices.



Apricot Energy Bars
1 cup organic apricots
1 cup organic raw pecans
1 cup organic raw almonds
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon organic vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Pulse the apricots in a food processor until they are relatively small pieces. Add pecans and almonds and pulse again until the nuts are chopped. Add eggs, vanilla, salt and cinnamon and mix until the dough comes into a ball. Spread mixture into an 8x8 pan and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.