Wednesday, June 18, 2014

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




11 comments:

  1. Thanks for all the great recipes! How has your progress been in your second/third rounds? Curious what results you continue to see. Your positive attitude is infectious! :)

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  2. Is it 1/4 tsp of the peanut butter?

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    1. Oh didn't realize I had a typo there! Should be 1/4 cup PB- I'll correct that now- thanks! :)

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  3. Would this be a treat substitute?

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    1. You could definitely count it as that- 1 yellow substitute

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  4. Honeybee, I just love love love your name. I have been making some of your recipes. The stuffed peppers were delicious, your Coconut oil and honey almond bars and this recipe!! They have all have proven to be winners at my house. So please keep sharing your 21 Day Fix recipes, because they are truly good and truly helping me in my 21 Day Fix.

    Thank Yous, Aggie (Ags)

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  5. I'm just wondering why dates are really counted? I've seen that a few times in different recipes. This recipe looks good!

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    1. I think because there are so few dates per granola bar it is almost negligible to count- used more as a binding agent... However, you could always count 1/4 purple if you wanted :). Hope that helps!

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  6. Can I sub something else for the dates?

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  7. Can this be used as topping for yogurt. if so how would it be broken down

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