It looks to be a long list of ingredients, but those were just my choices. I like to pack in as much nutrition as possible because why not? You can easily discard, add, or customize these granola bars to be whatever you want! You can chop the nuts even more or keep them completely whole. Remove the chocolate or add dried fruits. The possibilities are endless.
Once you have your ingredients all picked out and thrown into a bowl, it’s really just about mixing in the right amount of “sticky” ingredients to keep everything together. In this case I’ve chosen a mix of maple syrup and brown rice syrup. Why? Well brown rice syrup is a lot thicker, almost like a caramel consistency. This helps the bars to stick together. I’ve also added in coconut oil which, when cold, hardens and acts as a binder. Yes, these syrups are still sugar, but they are nutrient-dense and full of vitamins/minerals (while refined sugars have zero nutrition and are very harmful to our bodies). However, I’ve still kept the sweeteners to a minimum here.
These bars are perfect for that mid-afternoon snack or even as breakfast! I love to have things like this around to grab when I’m in a rush or on the go. I do prefer to keep these in the freezer because they’ll stay good for a month, but I also like them on the crunchier/firmer side. Refrigerating is also fine they just might not hold up as well. Definitely no to room temperature! P.S. they’re naturally gluten free and can be made vegan with non-dairy chocolate chips (or none at all).
RECIPE:
(makes about 10 bars or more if squares)
Dry Ingredients:
2 cups puffed rice cereal
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup coconut flakes, unsweetened
1/2 cup roughly chopped almonds
3/4 cup roughly chopped cashews
1/2 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/4 cup flax seeds
1 tbsp chia seeds
2 tbsp hemp seeds
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
Optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Wet Ingredients:
4 dates, pitted and chopped
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup maple syrup
TO MAKE:
Mix all dry ingredients (besides choc chips) into a large bowl.
Heat wet ingredients in a small pot on medium heat for 5 minutes, or until thick.
Pour wet mixture over the dry and stir well until fully incorporated. Let cool for a few minutes and then add in choc chips. Stir.
Pour into a 9×11 pan (or whatever size you have) lined with parchment paper. (You want extra paper to hang over the pan so you can easily pull them out to cut.)
Press them down until flattened and even. Freeze for at least 30 min, if not longer. You want them to be very hard.
Take out and pull them from the pan with the parchment paper. Cut into bars.
Keep in an air tight container in the freezer (or fridge) for up to 4 weeks!