Raw Vegan Lime Bars w/ Pistachio Graham Crust

I took one bite, then the flavour sunk in and all I wanted to do was dance and proclaim to the entire universe how fantastic these babies turned out to be. Gluten free, dairy free, added sugar free, vegan, raw, tastes like ice cream what more can you ask for? 

(Hey that rhymes) 

They're simple to make and really are quite delicious if I do say so myself. Parents really like these and my critical brother said they were "not bad" aka "very good". He asked if there was sugar. Well, there isn't! Apart from non processed sugars like dates and maple syrup :-) Really glad these turned out well because this morning's breakfast got screwed up when everything got stuck to my not so non stick waffle maker. Need a new one now, care to sponsor me anyone?

I was scrolling through Pinterest (follow me @healthiepanda) the other day and I saw these divine looking lime squares with a pistachio graham crust, courtesy of Martha Stewart. So this Sunday afternoon I decided to healthify them. Oh by the way keep pinning my pictures! Really makes me so happy :-) 

I love that green from the avocado! (YES THATS THE SECRET INGREDIENT) The ones I used were perfectly ripe and not brown at all! Pity I didn't take a picture. Avocados make up a good portion of this recipe so please get good avocados. Brown avocados will not give you such a pretty green. 

A flavour variation I thought of: if you replace the lime elements in this with some peppermint extract and add a raw chocolate drizzle on top, you'll get mint chocolate bars ❤ I've made a similar recipe to this before, raw banoffee bars, where I used banana instead of avocado. 

Lastly, I was thinking of changing my name from @healthiepanda to @sopheats, comments? (-: 

What you'll need

Food processor or a good blender

Base

1/4 cup walnuts (20g)

1/4 cup shelled pistachio (25g)

1/4 cup rolled oats 

80g pitted dates 

Lime cream

1 cup mashed avocado 

1/3 cup cashews (40g)

1/2 tbsp lime zest (avoid the white inner part of the zest, its bitter)

2 tbsp lime juice

3 tbsp maple syrup 

3/4 tsp vanilla extract 

1 tbsp coconut oil**

How to

1- Line a loaf pan (8.5inch by 4.5inch) with wax paper. Blend base ingredients in a food processor until everything is finely chopped up and mixed together. Press the mixture firmly into the pan. Keep in freezer while you prepare the lime cream.

2- Blend lime cream ingredients together until smooth. Spread evenly over the base and freeze for 2-3h until firm. Slice into 10 bars/squares and serve! They don't last very long out of the freezer, so please treat these like ice cream and keep frozen until ready to eat (:

**Coconut oil can be omitted but then your bars will melt quite fast once taken out of the freezer.