healthy laps

Good morning!  Happy Saturday!

It is a gorgeous morning here in Boston, so we are headed out for a long bike ride.  But, first I thought I would leave you with some goodies!

Last week, I took a stab at making some more granola bars, hoping that they would stick together better this time.  Well, I ended up making 3 batches because I wanted different flavors, and they were not coming out the way I wanted them to.  (Please someone, please tell me the trick to getting these guys to stick together!)

All of the bars are SOOO tasty, and I need to remember the proportions myself, so I’ll leave you with the recipes regardless of the stickiness/etc.

Batch #1 – Chocolate Cherry Granola Bars

*these are my favorite of the group!  They stick together just fine, and are not too gooey.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup chopped almonds
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup dried unsweetened cherries
• 3 T dark chocolate chunks
• 2 T brown rice syrup
• 2 T unsweetened applesauce
• 1 T raw almond butter
• 1/4 cup sucanat
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1 t salt

Directions:

• Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl (#1-6).
• Mix wet ingredients in a saucepan over low heat until melted (#7-13).
• Pour wet over dry and mix.
• Spread mixture on parchment lined baking sheet and press down firmly until you have a solid sheet of 1/2 inch bars (or thicker if you prefer).  Make sure everything is sticking together (see photo above).
• Refrigerate for 2-4 hours until firm (I left them overnight).
• Flip over onto a cutting board and remove parchement.  Cut into bars!  Makes 12 bars.

Batch #2 – Tropical Granola Bars

*The combination of flavors in these is amazing!  I love them, but I added too much sauce, so they do not stay together well and are a little gooey.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup brown rice cereal
• 1/4 cup chopped macademia nuts
• 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots, unsweetened
• 1/4 cup chopped dried pineapple. unsweetened
• 1/4 cup toasted coconut flakes, unsweetened
• 2 T ground flaxmeal
• 2 T raw honey
• 2 T coconut oil
• 2 T unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup sucanat
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1 t salt

Directions:

• Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl (#1-7).
• Mix wet ingredients in a saucepan over low heat until melted (#8-14).
• Pour wet over dry and mix.
• Spread mixture on parchment lined baking sheet and press down firmly until you have a solid sheet of 1/2 inch bars (or thicker if you prefer).  Make sure everything is sticking together (see photo above).
• Let cool, then drizzle with coconut butter!
• Refrigerate for 2-4 hours until firm (I left them overnight).
• Flip over onto a cutting board and remove parchement.  Cut into bars!  Makes 12 bars.

Batch #3 – Maple Ginger Granola Bars

*Love the maple and ginger combination!  But, again – too sticky!!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/8 cup ground flaxmeal
• 1/8 cup hemp seeds
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup crystallized ginger
• 1/4 cup maple syrup (the real stuff)
• 2 T unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup maple sugar
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1 t salt

Directions:

• Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl (#1-8).
• Mix wet ingredients in a saucepan over low heat until melted (#9-14).
• Pour wet over dry and mix.
• Spread mixture on parchment lined baking sheet and press down firmly until you have a solid sheet of 1/2 inch bars (or thicker if you prefer).  Make sure everything is sticking together (see photo above).
• Refrigerate for 2-4 hours until firm (I left them overnight).
• Flip over onto a cutting board and remove parchement.  Cut into bars!  Makes 12 bars.

So, there you have it!  Three delicious varieties of granola bars!

But, I am still trying to figure out what went wrong.  Batch #1 stuck together and firmed up great.  No gooey-ness at all.  Just straight up heaven in a bar!  Batches #2-3 are gooey, I’m not going to lie.  Maybe too much applesauce?  Too much liquid?  Not enough almond butter?  Was that the trick to the first batch?

Well, I will not know until I try again!  Until then…let me know if you have any tips! 🙂

Filed under: Recipes | Tagged: granola bars, Recipes |