Chewy Chocolate Cherry Bars

I blame Gabby for these.  She pinned a recipe on Pinterest a few days ago that got my attention. Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal cookies. The original recipe looks great and I would think you could just substitute the all purpose flour with any gluten free flour mix and, of course, use gluten free oats.  But I wanted a chewy texture like these Jumbo Date Cookies.  Peanut butter sounded a little overwhelming with the other flavors, but I wanted the protein/fat of nuts for nutrition and texture. Cashew butter was the most obvious choice to me but since I didn't have any in the pantry I just processed a cup of cashews in the oil called for in the recipe and it literally took seconds.  I happened to have roasted and lightly salted cashew pieces in the pantry but I think any cashews would work. Baking them as bars rather than cookies was a time saver.


 Chewy Chocolate Cherry Bars
1 cup Cashews (I used roasted and lightly salted cashew pieces)
1/2 cup Grapeseed oil (or any mild oil you like to use)
4 cups Quick-Cooking Oats - I used Bob's Red Mill
1 cup Turbinado Raw Cane Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
3 Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 1/2 cups Dried Cherries, coarsely chopped
1 cup dark chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350.


Process the cashews and oil until creamy and put in mixing bowl with everything but the cherries and chocolate chips.  Mix thoroughly and add the cherries and chocolate chips. 


Spread into pan and bake for about 30 minutes until golden brown.  Cool and cut into squares

Enjoy!