A lot of granola bar recipes use gobs of peanut butter, honey, maple syrup . . . in order to get the bars to bind together. in other words . . . LOTS OF SUGAR! . . . so I decided to go a different route. Fruit seemed to be the perfect solution with a little chocolate to add to the flavor.
My husband LOVES them and I have to ward him off from eating them all. Even my 1 year old will eat almost a whole bar to herself. *NOTE: this isn’t to say these are suitable for toddlers as nuts are considered to be a choking hazard with young kids. My daughters just done especially well with eating difficult foods. If you’d like these as a snack for your kids I’d recommend using chopped nuts instead of whole nuts.
Recommended (clickable)
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Bars
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- 1-1.5 cups Frozen Mixed Berries**
- 1/2 cup Maple Syrup or Honey (or 2 tbs granulated sweetener with enough water to fill a 1/2 cup)
- 1 tablespoon Corn Starch*
- 1 teapoon Vanilla
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice (optional)
- 1.5 cups Rolled Oats (regular or GF)
- 1/2 cup Oat Flour (just use blender to make from rolled oats)
- 2 cups Nuts/Seeds/Dried Fruit/Chocolate Chips
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 cup Chocolate Chips (try different flavors)
- 1 teaspoon Coconut Oil
Ingredients
Berry Mix
Granola Mix
Chocolate Drizzle
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- First you'll want to make your berry sauce. Add berries, maple syrup, and corn starch to a small sauce pan and start warming on low heat.
- Once berries are mostly thawed, spoon mixture into a blender and blitz until smooth. Pour back into your saucepan and put on medium heat.
- Stir frequently until mixture thickens and bubbles. Doesn't have to be super thick as it will continue to thicken once you take it off the heat. Turn off heat and set aside while you make your granola mixture.
- In a medium to large bowl add 1 cup of the rolled oats, oat flour, nuts, seeds, fruit, salt, cinnamon. Toss together.
- Next mix in your berry sauce which will still be quite warm. Make sure to coat everything. If mixture seems a bit wet, then add the remaining 1/2 cup of rolled oats. If you want to add chocolate chips, then wait until mixture has cooled a bit before adding so they don't melt.
- Firmly and evenly press mixture into a parchment paper lined pan and bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes. I believe my pan is smaller then the standard 9"X13" but you can use whatever works best.
- Remove from the oven, carefully pull sides of parchment paper to lift and put granola block on a cookie sheet. Cut your bars into desired size and shape. I generally get 8 good sized bars.
- Now, gently flip each bar over and put back in the oven at 200°F for 20-40 minutes. Time depends on how crunchy or soft you want your bars. I like them more dry.
- Once out of the oven it's time to make your chocolate sauce to drizzle on them. Melt your chocolate chips and coconut oil together either in the microwave or small saucepan on very low heat.
- Use a spoon to put a glob of melted chocolate on what will be the bottom of the bar and smooth it evenly. Gently flip the bar again before applying more of a drizzle on the top of the bars.
- Pop in the fridge to cool for 20-30 minutes before enjoying. Store in a container in the fridge to optimal freshness.
**You can use other kinds of fruit but I'd recommend the more tart the better for a sharper flavor. If you try banana, I'd recommend using more spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove to enhance the flavor without adding more sugar.
If bars seem to be crumbly or fall apart, try using chopped nuts instead of whole. You could also allow the mixture to be a little bit more wet before baking and the "fruity glue" should hold together a bit better.
