You can make them in just over half an hour, without cooking or baking, and have them ready for a quick on-the-go breakfast, or as a healthy snack. So, these healthy granola bars are basically breakfast bars that are made with wholesome, unrefined, plant-based ingredients. They are sweet, but not too much. Fulfilling, but not excessively. Packed with whole grains, protein, healthy fats, and healthy sugars to give you slow, long-lasting energy throughout the morning.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Dates: any variety of dates is ok here. We use them because they are sweet, healthy and sticky and help keep the bar together. We turned the dates into a paste, so if you have already made date paste at home that works too.Nut butter: you can use peanut butter, almond butter, or a mix bettween the two.Rolled oats: sometimes known as old fashioned oats. They add chewiness, fiber, and good carbs.Puffed rice: I like to add a puffed cereal to this recipe as it makes it lighter and more fun to eat. You can use puffed rice or puffed spelt, barley, or whatever puffed cereal you can find in your grocery store, ideally though without addedd sugars. Dark chocolate: either dark chocolate chips, or a dark chocolate bar chopped into small pieces. I usually go for 70% and up.Seeds: to add some healthy fats. I like to use a mix between pumpkin, chia, flax, and sunflower seeds. You can pick and mix.Aromas: I like to add the grated zest of an orange to add some freshness. Also orange goes very well with chocolate. If you don’t fancy the orange flavour you can go for cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, etc.Salt: to tie all the flavours togehter.
Instructions
Dates first
First off, blend the pitted dates till you have a smooth date paste. Since these healthy granola bars don’t contain any added sugars or refined fats they are great for a healthy breakfast or snack, full of fiber, healthy fats, protein, and complex carbohydrates that release energy slowly. If you have date paste at hand, then you can skip this step and use date paste instead. Tip: I like to prepare a jar of date paste in advance and keep it handy. It stores for 3 months in the refrigerator.
Mix
Then to a bowl, add 1/2 cup (150 grams) of the date paste, and 1 cup (150 grams) of peanut butter (or any other nut butter). I actually use my homemade nut butter that is 50% peanuts and 50% almonds. Now add 1 cup (110 grams) of rolled oats, 1 cup (35 grams) of puffed rice, 1/4 cup (45 grams) of dark chocolate chopped into pieces, and 2 tablespoons of seeds of your choice, such as pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds or flax seeds. Mix the ingredients with the same spatula until you have a homogeneous mixture.
Freeze
Now transfer it to a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Here we use a square baking pan that is 8 x 8 inches (20 x 20 centimeters). Once it’s nice and flattened in the baking pan put it to rest in the refrigerator for an hour, or in the freezer for half an hour.
Eat
Then remove it from the baking sheet, put it on a cutting board, and cut it into bars, or even into squares. I usually cut 10 bars.
Storage
Store the healthy granola bars in the refrigerator in an airtight container for weeks, or in the freezer for up to 2 -3 months. You can eat the bars almost frozen. Just let them thaw for a few minutes, then they are ready to go. I honestly love them as cold as possible, almost straight out of the freezer. Don’t like dates? Then you could try dried prunes instead. They have delicious ones in California that you can use just like dates, that is, blend them and use them as a sticky sugar replacement. Sweeter? Got you! You can easily add a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup or agave syrup to the mix to add a touch of sweetness to the bars.More fruit? Yes, add some dried and chopped apples or bananas, in small pieces though, or the bars won’t stick together. You can also add raisins or chopped cranberries.
More Breakfast Recipes
Easy oat cookies with raisinsMuffins with oat flourBirchermüesli aka overnight oats with apple and almondsGranola recipeTofu scramble: an excellent savory breakfast ideaVegan breakfast burrito: a wonderful breakfast meal
30 Vegan Brunch Recipes
40 Vegan Desserts
30 Easy Tofu Recipes
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