William Davis, MD, is a preventive cardiologist whose unique approach to diet allows him to advocate reversal, not just prevention, of heart disease.
He is the founder of the 
These bars have many of the wonderful nuts, seeds, and crunch of a trail mix–but without the sugar load. This poses only a modest carbohydrate exposure, as the dates provide 4 grams sugar per date.
However, if you are a marathon runner, triathlete, or other long-duration exerciser and would like to use these bars as your during-exercise carbohydrate source, they are easily modified to increase carbohydrate content to suit your needs. You can add more 2-3 more dates, for instance, or more raisins or apricots, ground in your food chopper or food processor in the first step. If you are not a long-duration athlete, leave these bars as is!
Ingredients for every 2 bars (e.g., multiply ingredients by 4 to obtain 8 bars):
2 tablespoons shredded unsweetened coconut
1 tablespoon raw pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon raw sunflower seeds
1-2 whole pitted dates
1 tablespoon walnut fragments
1 tablespoon cacao nibs
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Sweetener equivalent to 1 tablespoon sugar or sweeten to taste
1 tablespoon coconut milk (full thickness), room temperature
1/2 tablespoon almond butter, room temperature
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
Combine coconut, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and dates and grind in food chopper or food processor until consistency of coarse coffee grounds. Pour into bowl.
Add walnut fragments, cacao nibs, cinnamon, and sweetener and mix thoroughly. Taste batter to ensure degree of sweetness. Stir in coconut milk and almond butter by hand. (If almond butter is too thick, microwave prior to adding to mix in 15 second increments to obtain a liquid consistency.)
On parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, divide dough into two parts (or into as many bars as you desire). Shape into bar shape with the flat edge of a butter knife.
Bake for 60 minutes. Remove and cool.
Hi Dr D!
I am making these bars to take on our ski trip. Thank you! I wonder how these freeze. Anyone know?
Stevie
Late to the game. Finally made these bars and we tried them out on a 2 hour bike ride (half a bar @ ~30 min second half 30 min later then an hour to home. Tested and we were both under 100) I agree plenty sweet may leave out the Xylitol next time. Anyone add or sprinkle w/ sesame seeds?
An excellent idea, CJ!
I think I’ll try it, kind of like the sesame candies.
These are absolutely amazing! I make them by the dozen. They keep about a week and a half in the fridge and are the perfect grab and go snack or breakfast. Dr. Davis, thanks so much for all the amazing recipes. Can’t wait to buy your cook book!!
Great, Lisa!
I hope to be getting some new variations out, too.
I want to try this recipe but I am allergic to almonds. Can I substitute with another nut butter? Is peanut butter ok?
I used the recipe in the cookbook and they were a crumbly mess. The taste wasn’t bad. I used coconut milk from a carton. Any one else have that problem?
Use the coconut milk from a can, Suzie, for better cohesiveness.
I have had the same problem. I tried adding an egg. Made it a bit better but still crumbly. I’ll try canned coconut milk as suggested and see what happens
My bars are very crumbly too- they do not firm up when cool. I used coconut milk from can, and added almond butter at room temp. I did not add any sweetener. I used dark choc chips instead of cocoa nibs – could that be the issue? They are tasty, but would be more practical for eating if they didn’t crumble when touched. Thanks for tips.
Hmmm. How about more oil, e.g., coconut oil or almond butter?
It sounds like there was insufficient oil to bind the proteins.
The recipe here on the blog is slightly different than the one in the book. My batch didn’t firm up in the bread pan so I’m going to try taking them out and making bars as is suggested on the blog and putting them back in the oven. I was unsure of the low heat, too, but I’ll wait and see how these turn out.