Who doesn’t love a great, crunchy, sweet granola bar? Here is a profoundly simple, healthy granola bar recipe that you can be confident is not junk food in disguise.
You see, you have to be very careful when choosing just the right granola to eat. It’s easy to be lulled into a false sense of caloric security by the term “granola”. Granola sounds healthy. Granola sounds all-natural and wholesome. It evokes images of hiking in the woods, hugging trees, and munching away at homemade trail mix.
Beware, however. You must especially watch out for premade, store-bought granola bars. Take a good look at the nutritional information on a packaged bar at the supermarket. You will often find that the snack you thought would be nutritious and ok for your diet is in fact laden with fat, calories and sugar.
Plus who wants all those unpronounceable preservatives and coloring additives in their diet?
(Check out a great recipe for Low Calorie Chocolate Chip Cookies)
So take a few minutes and make your own delicious granola bars at home.
As with many recipes, you can switch up the ingredients, using different types of seeds, fruit, and/or nuts.
Healthy Granola Bar Recipe
2 cups oats (regular, not instant)
¼ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup pumpkin seeds
½ cup chopped pecans or almonds
¼ cup ground almond meal
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup dried chopped fruit (like blueberries, apricots, cherries, cranberries, etc.)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (or coconut oil)
½ cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease an 8-inch square baking pan. For thinner bars, you can use a larger pan and spread the mixture thinner.
On a baking sheet, lightly toast the oats, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and nuts for around 12-15 minutes.
In a large bowl combine the almond meal, cinnamon, salt and dried fruit.
Add the toasted oat mixture. Melt the butter, and pour it into the mixture. Add the honey and vanilla, and mix it well to coat evenly.
Spoon the mixture into the baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Allow the healthy granola bars to cool completely before enjoying.
Leave a Reply