I need your help. I don’t know what to call these. Maple Pecan Power Bars? Maple Pecan Power Bites? Maple Pecan Energy Bites? Pecan Pie Energy Bites? Or Bars? Maple Pecan Butter Cups? Pecan Butter as in Peanut Butter, Almond Butter, Coconut Butter?

Some people have such a talent for naming. And naming is a gift.

“Lara walked along the tracks following a path worn by pilgrims and then turned into the fields. Here she stopped and, closing her eyes, took a deep breath of the flower-scented air of the broad expanse around her. It was dearer to her than her kin, better than a lover, wiser than a book. For a moment she rediscovered the purpose of her life. She was here on earth to grasp the meaning of its wild enchantment and to call each thing by its one true name…” ~ Boris Pasternak

Wild enchantment we’ve got: It’s a healthy, immune supporting, brain fueling, joint loving, sense delighting, taste celebration of nature’s edible Ojas.

What is Ojas? Ojas lubricates joints, nourishes the brain, coats the nervous system, steadies the heart, grounds, calms, stabilizes. Sage Charak defines it here. Foods that nourish our Ojas are usually sweet, sattvic, unctuous, hearty, and come straight from nature’s garden.

Simple healthy, healing
Only 4 ingredients + spice + garnish: Pecans, maple syrup, coconut oil and dates, each serving is about about 2 pecans, 1 teaspoon maple syrup, 1/3 date, and a dab of coconut oil.

Three Recipes
Maple Pecan Butter – Five minutes to enchantment. Try it on toast, or buckwheat cakes, on a spoon with Chyvanprash, in a smoothie, with a slice of pear, stirred into your breakfast porridge, drizzled on pudding, even whisked into a salad dressing with olive oil and lemon, and any way you like your nut butters.

Maple Pecans – Add tamari, shoyu, coconut aminos, or smoked paprika with the maple syrup and you have a sweet savory crunch to top salads, stews, roasts, soups. Skip the tamari and add coconut flakes while toasting and you’ll have a sweet meaty topping for breakfast, porridge, pudding.

Maple Pecan Butter Cups – Put it all together and make yourself a breakfast bite, an energy bar, a pre or post exercise boost, a pick-me-up with afternoon tea or a home-made holiday gift.

You could double the recipe and make a healthy, gluten-free, processed sugar free, plant-based Pecan Pie. You could also press it into a small baking pan, chill and then cut into energy bars. The Pecan Butter topping is a bit messy though so these are not going to be on-the-go bars.

Don’t skip the pomegranate as that really gives it a lift, and helps fill out the six tastes: Mostly sweet, with salty, sour, pungent astringent, and bitter from the orange zest. It’s balanced and it’s pretty heavenly.

Pecan Paradiso?! 😉

MAPLE PECAN OJAS CUPS
Makes 6

Feel free to play around with the spices – fresh grated nutmeg might be good in place of cardamom, or in addition to the cinnamon in the pecan butter. Honey is optional but its warmth and astringency add depth to the sweetness.

Maple Pecan Butter (Top Layer)
1/2 cup pecans
1 teaspoon raw honey, option
2 tablespoons maple syrup
3-4 shakes cinnamon
pinch mineral or sea salt

Preheat your oven to 375F. Spread the pecans on a small baking tray and roast in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until they begin to brown. Remove and allow to cool.

Put the pecans in a blender with the rest of the ingredients and blend until creamy. Taste and adjust. If it only gets crumbly but not creamy, add a knob of coconut oil and blend again. Scoop into a bowl and set aside.

Maple Pecans
10-12 pecans
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1/8 teaspoon mineral or sea salt
1 teaspoon coconut oil, plus more for assembly

In a small saucepan, toast the pecans on medium high heat until they just begin to brown. Reduce heat to low. Add the maple syrup, coconut oil and salt, and stir to coat completely. Remove from heat. Allow to cool.

Maple Pecan Cups (Base Layer)
Maple Pecans (above)
2 medjool dates
few shakes cardamom
Coconut oil, optional
orange zest, pomegranate arils

Remove the pits from the dates, add to a blender and blend until the dates are well mashed. Add the maple pecans and cardamom. Blend until it rolls itself into a ball, careful to only break the pecans and not over-grind them to a powder. If this batter doesn’t coalesce, add a small bit of coconut oil and blend again. Keep adding coconut oil, conservatively, until it makes a ball.

Assembly
Divide this batter into six individual smallest size baking cups, or spread it out in a small baking tray. Grease the back of a spoon with coconut oil, or use your clean hands (actually less messy), and press to fill to the edge.

Spoon the pecan butter over the base and gently tap to spread and cover. Garnish with pomegranate arils and orange zest.

To call each thing by its one true name…

What shall we call this? Let me know what you would call it and I will send out three separate gifts to three separate individuals, chosen randomly this Friday – to one commenter the new Banyan Botanical’s Ayurvedic Oils Gift Set, to another a jar of Banyan’s Chyavanprash, and finally 1 jar of Beauty Balm because my favorite gift of all is the reminder that you are beautiful.

Thank you!
xo

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Congratulations to Melissa, Patricia, and Cindy whose names were randomly, blindly picked to receive the Ayurveda gifts. Thank you all for your comments and your engagement.