During the Summer Everett takes swim classes. All the kids have bars at swim class, all of them. Everett thinks he needs bars in his life too. So comes my idea for these healthy nut and seed granola bars. He loves them, I love them, there’s no sugar added and they are loaded with goodness.
We make a big batch of these, then take them to swim class for him to enjoy alongside his bar-loving, swimming, friends. It’s become habitual – swim lesson, wrap up in towel, eat bar. If I forget the bar, things are not good. Usually some other mom comes in for backup but sometimes I just fail and we go out for bagels after ?
Everett loves baking these with me, which also entails eating a lot of the ingredients – nuts, honey, dried fruit. I won’t complain about that!!
The recipe for these comes from my energy bite recipe, slightly altered and then baked off. So if you’d rather eat them in raw form, go for the original recipe. Both are great, one just looks and feels like a granola bar ?
A healthy recipe for granola bars with dates, nuts, and seeds, no sugar added!
Course:
Snack
Cuisine:
American, Gluten Free, Sugar Free
Servings: 10 -12 bars
:
-
1 1/2
cup
rolled oats
gluten free -
1
cup
nuts
(I use walnuts and almonds or whatever I have on hand!) -
2
tablespoons
flax seeds -
2
tablespoons
chia seeds -
10-12
medjool dates
seeds removed and chopped (10 large or 12 medium) -
4
tablespoons
honey or agave -
1/2
teaspoon
vanilla -
1/4
teaspoon
salt -
1/3
cup
dried tart cherries
chopped
Lightly grease a 9×9 baking dish and preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
In a food processor pulse the oats, nuts and seeds until a flour-like meal is formed. Add dates then add honey, tablespoon at a time until the mixture starts to clump together (you may noir need the full 4 tablespoons). Add in the vanilla and salt and pulse a few more times to combine. Stir in the chopped cherries.
Turn out the mixture onto the prepared baking dish and use parchment paper or a spatula to press the mixture into a flax, even surface. The bars should be 3/4-1 inch thick.
Bake for 20 minutes then let cool before cutting into preferred bar sizes.
