No Bake Granola

I love granola bars- but now that I’ve started reading nutrition labels and eating clean, I don’t really love what they are made out of.

So, I began testing out some different homemade granola recipes and after some good ol’ trial and error, I am pretty pleased with this concoction. Very minimal ingredients, very minimal effort, maximum taste and snacking satisfaction.

Here’s what I like most about them: I think the level of sweetness is balanced. The texture is good- not too sticky, not too hard, not too soft.  You can eat them as granola bars or crumble into pieces to top your yogurt. You can also swap out the fruit and nuts as desired, and maybe even add a few chocolate chips on top (because a girl’s gotta have chocolate, right?)

Yield: About 8 bars

Fix Portions per bar: 1 yellow, ¼ purple (if made with raisins or cranberries added), ¼ blue (if made with nuts added), 1 tsp (PB serving)

Ingredients:

• 1⁄4 cup dates
• 1 ½ cups old fashioned oats (I recommend toasting them for about 10 minutes on 350 to bring out the best flavor, but this is optional)
• ¼ cup honey or agave
• ¼ cup natural peanut butter or almond butter

Directions:

1. MIx dates with a few tablespoons of water and soak about 5-10 minutes, then drain
2. Meanwhile, melt honey and peanut butter together on the stovetop or in the microwave
3. Using a food processor, grind dates into a paste
4. Combine dates in a large bowl with all other ingredients and mix well
5. Press into an 8x8 pan lined with wax paper. NOTE: If you want to add toppings like almonds, raisins, or chocolate chips, press them on top of the granola here
6. Freeze for 1 hour before cutting into squares or crumbling into pieces