May 24th, 2012
Healthy Homemade Granola Bars
This recipe comes from one of my good friends here in Tiny Town who graciously sent me the recipe with photos so I could post it on my blog! (Thanks Ashley!) The above photo is my own, after I made a batch, but the photos below are hers.
These granola bars are a total hit at our house. My kids gobble them up, and I love that they are an easy grab-and-go snack – perfect for home or on the road. The only downside is that the oats are un-soaked, which can be difficult to digest, so it’s probably best not to eat too many in a day. The seeds could easily be soaked and dehydrated before use (though I confess I didn’t do that this time – at 37 weeks pregnant I was lucky to find a burst of energy to throw these together, let alone worry about soaking…) As a side note – I wonder if you could soak oats and then dehydrate them to keep for recipes such as this? Anyone know?
Anyway, these are a billion times better for you than the processed/packaged alternatives in the stores, laden with high-fructose corn syrup, sugars, and un-recognizable ingredients (yuck!).
{The Ingredients}
2/3 cup almond butter (you could also use peanut butter which is cheaper, or sunflower seed butter, if you have nut allergies)
2/3 cup virgin coconut oil
2/3 cup honey (raw is best)
2 cup oats (gluten-free if desired)
2 cups total of any add-ins you’d like (such as chopped nuts, dried fruit, dark chocolate bits, coconut flakes, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc). I use my large 4-cup measuring cup and just dump in ingredients until it’s at 2 cups.
{The Method}
Mix almond butter, coconut oil and honey together in a small pot and warm until everything is melted. Stir together. Add oats. Add the rest and stir until well combined. (If using chocolate chips be sure to cool the honey mixture completely before adding the extras or else the chocolate chips will all melt).
Press into an 9×13 pan (the above photo is an 8×8 pan for when the recipe is halved) and refrigerate until firm. Cut into bars, wrap individually, and store in the fridge.
{For more healthy yumminess, check out the Red & Honey recipe page!}
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I was so excited to try these! I ended up using steel cut oats for something different and I’m not sure they turned out as they were supposed to. Even when cold, they’re really gooey and soooo rich I can’t even eat a whole one! I used dried cherries and dark chocolate chips. I wonder if the steel cut oats made a dfference?!
This recipe looks great! Thank you for sharing! Do you by chance know the nutritional facts for a single bar? Thank you! : )
Hi, these look great! Would I be able to put them in the freezer? It takes us a few weeks to go through a pan of granola bars. Thank you for sharing your recipes!
I don’t see why not – let me know if it works for you!
HI! I am still learning the art of soaking grains… but I have read that you can soak your oats, dehydrate them, and keep them for future use. Although I am not sure of the best way, if you do not have a dehydrator. Also, recently I made some granola bars using oats that I had soaked the night before. I just rinsed them well, and then used them in the recipe as specified. The only difference is that I baked them. Not sure how they would hold up without being baked for a bit. Hope this helps a little.
Hmmm, good to know! Thanks! I do have a dehydrator, so soaking and dehydrating would probably work.. that’s pretty awesome. Thanks for commenting
Yum yum love any healthy homemade granola bars!
This sounds so good! Thanks for sharing the recipe, Beth!
I have been making granola lately and have been wondering about soaking the oatmeal as well so I would like to know what you find out. I will also confess that I haven’t been soaking either but the granola has been a delicious treat!
This looks so good. Thanks for sharing
Mmmm!! That sounds yummy – adding it to my grocery list for the week!
Hope you like ‘em!
Yum! You should bring some of these along for our road trip to Allume….
awesome idea. except that they are pretty soft when not refrigerated. but hey, that’s really more of a problem for the sector of the population that doesn’t understand how to use a napkin (aka my children)