Granola bars

July 13, 2011 | 9 Comments »

I’ve been in search of the perfect granola bar recipe for quite some time now. Sure, granola bar recipes are easy to come by, but most contain far too much oil, butter, sugar and other stuff that I’m just not interested in. The few that I found that didn’t contain these ingredients tasted awful. I can’t even begin to tell you how upset I’d be after going through so much trouble (and supplies) just to end up with a dud. But I never gave up. I kept looking and trying and experimenting because I knew eventually I’d end up with a granola bar that was perfect in my eyes. Today was that day!

Last night I came across this recipe. I bookmarked it so that I could use it as a base. I assumed with that many comments it just had to be great. For once I was right! Not only did my bars hold together nicely, but they were damn good too! I did make quite a few changes. Here’s what I did.

Ingredients

• 2 cups oats (I used Bob’s Red Mill GF Rolled Oats)
• 1 cup almonds, toasted
• 1 1/2 cups dried fruit (I used cranberries)
• 1 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
• 3/4 cup brown rice cereal (I used Erewhon Crispy Brown Rice)
• 1/4 cup flax meal
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/3 cup agave nectar
• 1/3 cup almond butter

Directions

1. After you toast the almonds, toss oats and coconut on baking sheet and toast for about 10 minutes at 300°. Keep stirring mixture so that it doesn’t burn and toasts evenly.
2. In a food processor combine toasted almonds and dried fruit. Pulse until coarsely chopped.
3. In a large mixing bowl combine the almond/fruit mixture, brown rice cereal, flax meal, vanilla extract, almond extract and salt. Mix well.
4. In a small saucepan combine the agave nectar and almond butter. With heat on low stir until well combined. Set aside.
5. Add the toasted oats and coconut to the mixing bowl, pour in agave mixture and mix well.
6. Press mixture into a 9×13 inch baking dish lined with parchment paper. Press VERY well. I used a wet spatula and really pressed down on it. Bake for 20–25 minutes or until edges are browned (mine turned brown around 22 minutes). Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

If you’re impatient like me allow the bars to cool for 1/2 hour and then place the pan in the freezer for another 1/2 hour. If you remove the bars by pulling out the parchment paper and it still seems flimsy, the bars need to cool down a bit longer. Then use a really sharp knife and cut into bars or squares. I ended up with 18 bars. Also, I saw how some people complained about the bars not holding together nicely. You really have to mix well. The agave/almond mixture needs to coat every single dry ingredient in the bowl. Then press, press, press and keep on pressing until it’s packed in that baking dish. And of course you have to allow the bars to cool completely. I also think that chopping the dried fruit makes the mixture more sticky which helps hold the bars together.

I entered all of the ingredients in my recipe database on MyFitnessPal to get a breakdown of the nutritional information. It’s probably not 100% accurate, but it at least gives you an idea of what you’re eating.

Calories: 162 Carbs: 20 g Fat: 8 g Protein: 4 g Sugar: 8 g Sodium: 44 mg

Not bad considering my favorite store bought bar contains 190 calories, 20 g carbs, 11 g fat, 5 g protein, 10 g sugar and 60 mg sodium. Fewer calories, less fat, less sugar, less sodium, less waste and more $$$ in my pocket! Ok enough with the boring stuff. Yay granola bars!