I've been scouring the internet, trying to find easy healthy recipes for all kinds of snacks and meals. Some to make before Henry is born, and some that will just be easy to make with two little ones pulling on the legs of my pants. I had been wanting to try homemade granola bars for quite awhile, store bought bars all either have soy, or are way too expensive. Last night I was feeling adventurous, so I attempted to make granola bars for the first time! Unfortunately, it ended up not sticking together as well as I had hoped, because I used a lot less sweetener than the recipe had called for. Instead of granola bars, I was left with some tasty granola. It was really quick, easy, and delicious. I thought I would share my recipe here for others to try, I'll also link the recipe I based my granola off of. The original recipe sounded great, but I didn't have all of the ingredients, and my food processor recently broke, so I adapted my own version from this one:
multiply delicous' homemade granola. The great thing about granola is that it is extremely versatile, so feel free to add anything you want to the recipe. This was just stuff I had on hand, but you can add or omit anything you want!
Ingredients:
2 cups of rolled oats.
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup raw sliced almonds
1/4 cup bittersweet dairy/soy free cacao chips
1/3 cup raw almond butter
1ripe banana chopped into small pieces (for added sweetness)
1/4 cup raw local honey
1/2 cup melted virgin coconut oil
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 13x9-inch baking pan with parchment paper with edges coming over sides. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl (I used my kitchen aid) add all dry ingredients, then stir. Once all the dry ingredients are mixed together, add all of the wet ingredients and stir until its all evenly mixed together.
Once everything is all mixed together, dump into the baking pan, and press down mixture evenly. Bake for around 25 minutes for a chewy granola, and if you like it crunchy, I would bake for another 10 minutes. When the mixture comes out, it will be soft, but as it cools it will set and become harder. If you try the recipe, even if you change it quite a bit, let me know. I would love feed back and tips :)
