No Bake Granola Bars (gluten free)

Finding a healthy snack isn’t exactly easy. Since having kids, I find myself constantly reading ingredient labels. Let’s face it, fresh fruit and vegetables everyday gets a little boring. As a dietitian and a mom, I want to know what I am feeding my kids and most store bought kid friendly snacks are not dietitian friendly. Miss E loves granola bars.  These healthy granola bars made with almond butter are a family favourite. However, I decided to switch things up a bit and forgo nut butters altogether.  My girls loved these no bake granola bars the first time around, but they crumbled easily. I played around with ingredients and added dried cranberries, unsweetened coconut, and hemp hearts.  These no bake granola bars are delicious and healthy.

Most store bought granola bars are full of sugar and artificial ingredients. I quit buying store bought granola bars for this reason.  These granola bars are full of dietitian approved ingredients such as: large flake oats, hemp hearts, unsweetened coconut, raisins, cranberries, almonds, and dark chocolate. While homemade granola bars are healthier, creating the right texture can be difficult. Most fall apart easily, leaving little crumbs everywhere.  I stumbled across this granola bar method from foodess, they are bound together with brown rice syrup, leaving a chewy texture. The great thing about granola bars is you can use a variety of ingredients to suit your taste buds.

No Bake Granola Bars (gluten free)

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Zest Nutrition

Yields 15

10 minPrep Time

10 minTotal Time

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Ingredients

• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 cups of oats, large flake (gluten free)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 cups brown rice crisp cereal( gluten free)
• 1/2 cup of cranberries
• 1/2 cup of raisins
• 1/2 cup of pepita seeds
• 1/2 cup of chopped almonds
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 2 tbsp hemp hearts
• 1/4 cup of coconut oil
• 1/3 cup of brown rice syrup
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 oz (1/2 bar) dark chocolate chunks ( i used 70%)

Instructions

1. In a large pot, melt coconut oil over low heat. Add oats and cinnamon. Toast until lightly fragrant smell. about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine rice crisps, cranberries, raisins, pepitas, almonds, hemp hearts, coconut flakes. Add oats to bowl and combine.
3. In a small pot, over medium heat combine coconut oil, sugar, and brown rice syrup. Cook until bubbles. Add vanilla.
4. Combine syrup to oat mixture and combine. Allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes.
5. Add chocolate chunks.
6. Line a 8 x 11 glass baking container with parchment paper.
7. Pour oat mixture into glass container and press very firmly with a pot or glass container.
8. Place in freezer for 15 minutes. Cut into bars.

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https://www.dev.zestnutrition.ca/no-bake-granola-bars/

These no bake granola bars make the perfect snack or breakfast bar. If you prefer gluten free buy gluten free oats and rice crisps. You can easily make a double batch and store them in the freezer. But if your family loves them as much as mine they likely won’t make it to the freezer.

Enjoy!