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| Nut-free with Dried Papaya and Dried Pineapple |
Below are several variations of granola bars. You can modify
them to your preference with different dried fruits, nuts, seeds, etc. I keep
sesame seeds and flax meal in all versions, varying nuts/seeds, nut/seed
butters, and dried fruit. The recipe is
fairly easy – mix some wet ingredients, some dry ingredients, combine and bake!
Basic Recipe
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup nut butter
1 Tbs extract (vanilla or almond)
3 cups whole oats (or combination of
whole oats and quick oats)
1/3 cup chopped or crushed nuts (or
combination of seeds)
1/3 cup flour (whole wheat, barley, or
gluten-free mix; or coconut flour – reduce amount to ¼ cup)
1/4 cup dry milk powder
2 Tbs flax meal
2 Tbs sesame seeds
2 Tbs fine coconut flakes (can leave
out)
1/2 cup dried fruit (chopped)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 tsp salt (or leave out salt if nut
butter is salted)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Melt butter and add brown sugar, honey, nut
butter, and extract. Whisk until smooth
3. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl.
4. Let butter mixture cool slightly, then add to
dry ingredients and combine until fully mixed and sticking together.
5. If making bars, line a baking dish or loaf pan with parchment
paper. Press in mixture. Fold over ends of parchment paper and press down until
well packed. Take out parchment paper with packed mixture inside and put on cookie
tray. Cut into bars with a sharp knife, separate bars (gently). For cookies, put
rounded tablespoonfuls of the mixture on the baking tray and pressing down
gently.
6. Bake 10 – 12 minutes for bars (or 7-9 minutes for cookies),
until lightly brown around the edges. [If they are "melting" when you
remove them, you can square them up with two butter knives by gently pressing
the sides back into shape.]
7. After about 10 minutes of cooling on pans, slide parchment paper
with bars on top onto cooling racks. Cool COMPLETELY before moving, eating,
etc.... the longer they sit the less they will fall apart. You can store them
on the counter for a few days, or in the fridge or in the freezer.
Variation: Cashew-coconut-almond-cherry-chocolate (my favorite):
Use cashew butter, almond extract, crushed
almonds and cashews, dried cherries
Variation: Peanut Butter and Raisin: Use peanut butter, curshed almonds, almond extract, and
raisins (leave out chocolate chips)
Variation: Peanut chocolate
Chip (my kids's favorite): Use
vanilla extract, crushed peanuts, and chocolate chips.
Variation: Nut-free with Dried Papaya and
Dried Pineapple: Use sunflower seed butter, vanilla extract, dried papaya and dried
pineapple, sunflower seeds, chocolate chips, leave out salt (sunflower seed
butter is often salted)
Also try: try pumpkin, sunflower, hemp and/or chia seeds; dried
blueberries, cherries, apricots, cranberries and/or raisins. “Goodies” should
total about 1 cup (including chocolate chips)
Gluten-free: use gluten free flour mix or flours such as
brown rice, coconut, chick pea, or quinoa. My favorite is coconut flour.
