This past weekend, I slept by my sister and to my dismay, watched her kids eat granola bar after granola bar. Packaged processed goods. I asked the kids if they thought there was sugar in what they were eating and received a “No, it’s healthy” response. It’s hard with young kids to get them to make the right food choices but getting them involved can make it that much more exciting, so we made my 6 ingredient raw candy bars.
We didn’t have dates so we used prunes instead and it still came out delicious! When I got home, the first thing I did was attempt a “healthified” granola bar. I was inspired by my Peanut butter Banana granola recipe. Plus I promised some of the pilates teachers and my Physical Therapist that I would bring them some goodies. Perfect excuse to get cooking.
Packed and ready to give out to the ladies at Brooklyn Body Burn and my Physical Therapist at Finish Line
Filled with fiber and healthy fats, I love this bar! Not as crunchy as a granola bar but it makes up for it in flavor. Slightly crunchy on the outside but nice and chewy on the inside, almost like a cross between banana bread and a Nature Valley granola bar. Basically the best of both worlds.
Lily’s brand chocolate chips have been my go to chip forever because they are vegan and stevia sweetened. It’s really hard to find a baking chocolate chip thats vegan and has no sugar, yet actually tastes good. Whole Foods carrys them as well as some local health food stores. Whenever you see chocolate chips used in my recipes it is always Lily’s.
Recipe:
- 3 cups oatmeal
- 2 cup puffed rice cereal (I used puffed kamut)
- 1 cup chopped almonds-or any nut you prefer (toasted preferbly)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups dates (you can use a mix of dates,raisins or dried figs)
- 1/2 cup Peanut butter
- 3 bananas
- 1 tablespoon pure vannalia extract
- 1 cup lilys chips
- In a large mixing bowl combine oatmeal, cereal, almonds, cinnamon and baking powder.
- In a food proccessor or blender blend, dates, peneanut butter, bananas and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth.
- Combine wet mixture with dry mixture until evenly coated
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Line a 13×9 pyrex with partchment paper, spray with non-stick spray. Flatten mixture in the pirex till even and smooth on the top
- Bake 325 45 minutes
- Let cool for at least 1 hour, cut into 12-14 large bars. Store in the freezer to preserve freshness
YUM! Homemade granola bars are always better then the processed store-bought versions. Love knowing exactly what’s going into my body. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing this. Always looking for new “snacks” to add to the kids lunches and sports activities, well just for any day really 🙂 I made this last night and it was delicious and had major thumbs up from my kids. Next time I need a bigger dish so they turn out thinner like yours, I would definitely not make them thick.
Do you have to store in the freezer or can u store them in the frig? If you store in freezer do you pop them in microwave before you eat them?
no need to microwave them. You can leave them out for a couple of days stored in an air tight container. I recommend storing in the freezer to preserve them. you can let them thaw naturally from there
Thank you! These were a huge hit at our house 🙂
Any recommendations for substituting the bananas? My husband is allergic and I’d like to make some he can eat too.
Thank you!
yes! try pumpkin or sweet potato puree apple sauce may work but i doubt it
I have all the ingredients. Can’t wait to try this when the bananas ripen! ☺️
Can you use prunes instead of dates, and so you have to use the cereal?
These are amazing and super easy to make. Thanks for another wonderful recipe Lottie!
Pretty! This was an incredibly wonderful article. Thanks for providing these details.
Thoughts on cutting the recipe in half and using an 8×8 pan instead?
Hi Lottie,
Looks yummy! Would the bars hold together without dates? I can’t eat dried fruit.