Recipe Feature: Homemade Granola Bars

I read an article not too long ago about the top 10 worst foods you can feed your kids.  It of course included the obvious items like Lucky Charms Cereal and Twinkies, but I bet some would be surprised to see that granola bars were on the list!  The truth is, most granola bars on the market today are anything but healthy. Sure, some of them may be a “good source of whole grains”, but what they don't want you to know is all the sugar, oils, additives and preservatives they contain.

Not to pick on Quaker Oats here, but if you check out the list of ingredients in their Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars you'll find this:

GRANOLA (WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS, BROWN SUGAR, CRISP RICE [RICE FLOUR, SUGAR, SALT, MALTED BARLEY EXTRACT],WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED WHEAT, SOYBEAN OIL, DRIED COCONUT, WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, SODIUM BICARBONATE, SOY LECITHIN, CARAMEL COLOR, NONFAT DRYMILK), SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE LIQUOR, COCOA BUTTER, SOY LECITHIN, VANILLA EXTRACT), CORN SYRUP, BROWN RICE CRISP (WHOLE GRAIN BROWN RICE, SUGAR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, SALT), INVERTSUGAR, SUGAR, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, GLYCERIN, SOYBEAN OIL. CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF SORBITOL,CALCIUM CARBONATE, SALT, WATER, SOY LECITHIN, MOLASSES, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, BHT (PRESERVATIVE), CITRIC ACID.

Sugar is listed six different times and that doesn't even include the corn syrup! So what's a parent (or any concerned adult) to do you ask? Well, you can try to find a “healthier brand”, (although I looked and the Kashi brand granola bars aren't much better), or you can make your very own homemade granola bars! This recipe, courtesy of my friend Tera’s blog, is seriously amazing! I promise that you and your little ones will love them!

Homemade Granola Bars
from Honeymoon Kitchen
makes 12 bars or 24 squares

Ingredients

• 1 cup roasted, unsalted almonds
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup wheat germ (I used ground flax seed instead)
• 3/4 cup toasted, unsalted sunflower seeds
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 4 Tbsp coconut oil (butter would also work, if you don’t have coconut oil)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups dried fruit (I used a 50/50 mix of dried cranberries and raisins)
  

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Crush your almonds by placing them in a zip lock baggie, putting the baggie between kitchen towels and crushing them with a mallet. You don’t want them pulverized, but don’t leave any whole.
3. Combine almonds, oats, wheat germ and sunflower seeds in an 11×13 baking dish. Toast them in the oven for 12 minutes, stirring every few minutes to avoid burning them. Remove from oven and dump mixture into a big bowl. You can turn the oven off now – no more baking!
4. Combine brown sugar, honey, coconut oil, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a small sauce pan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it comes to a simmer. If it’s taking a while and you get impatient, you can up the heat a smidge to medium-high. Simmer for one minute, stirring constantly, and remove from heat.
5. Add fruit to bowl with grains and pour the liquid mixture over everything. Stir the mixture together VERY thoroughly so that the liquid “glue” gets on everything.
6. Cut a piece of parchment that is twice as wide as your 11×13 baking dish. Place it in the dish with the extra hanging over the edges. Spray with nonstick spray. 
7. Dump the granola mixture into the baking dish and spread it out with a spoon. Pull the extra parchment over the top of the granola and push down REALLY HARD to level the bars and compact them together.

     8.  Allow granola to cool at least 2-3 hours, or over night.     

     9.  Turn out onto a cutting board and cut into desired number of pieces.     

The granola bars freeze really well in plastic wrap and still taste great when thawed! Perfect for breakfast or a snack on the go, you will feel good about eating these!

 

Healthfully Yours,

Meghan