My youngest starts her new school on Tuesday! Wait, where did the summer go? Ha! Well I’ve had healthy snacking ideas on the brain as this time of year approaches and whipped up a batch of these clean eating granola bars that you can customize to your taste or exactly what your kids love! Face it, granola bars from the grocery store are packed with ingredients that you can’t pronounce or don’t want to eat. So why eat it? These bars take minutes to make and last all week or longer (in the freezer). These are the best tasting granola bars you’ll taste, I promise!! Snacking, breakfast on-the-go… perfect. Mine are chilling now and I can’t wait to have one.
Ingredients:
1 heaping cup of dates (Medjool or other fancy pitted dates)
1 cup of whole almonds, raw
1 1/3 cup of rolled oats (I used organic gluten free but regular rolled oats are fine)
1/8 teaspoon of sea salt
1/4 cup of almond butter (or whatever nut butter you have) I used Justin’s maple almond butter
1/4 cup of Vermont maple syrup (you can substitute agave or honey)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (I used vanilla paste)
Optional: Pretzel pieces, chocolate chips, chia seeds, flax seeds, dried fruit
Directions:
Into your food processor, add the pitted dates and process for about 30-45 seconds or until they break down and then roll up into a large ball. Remove and place in your stand mixer with the paddle attached. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. On a baking sheet with sides, add the oats (one side) and your almonds (on the other). Bake for 10-12 minutes or until just toasted. Give the almonds a chance to cool down a bit and then roughly chop them. Add the oats and nuts to your dates in the stand mixer bowl. Add the sea salt. Mix until combined.
On the stovetop in a small sauce pan, add the nut butter, vanilla and syrup over low heat and whisk until melted and smooth. Pour over the oat mixture and blend again until well coated. Add your additional toppings here. I used dark chocolate chips.
Now to prep your baking dish. Line a 9×9 or 8×8 pan with parchment or wax paper making sure to have overhang on both sides for easy removal. Pour out the granola bar mixture over top. Using another smaller piece of parchment, push down the mixture until it is flat and uniform throughout the pan. Then refrigerate until firm – 30-45 minutes. Remove from the pan and slice into bars. Keep in the refrigerator for optimum freshness.
— Knead to Cook
These look and sound amazing! Just in time for school lunches. Thank you!
They are SO good!!! Outta the park recipe 🙂
They look great. Do they end up crunchy, chewy, or a bit of both?
Linda, I keep them in the fridge so they are I would say crunchier. They really are perfection! I hope you give them a try 🙂
These are amazing! Thanks for sharing….I think my new favorite thing may be Maple Almond Butter!
These are by far my favorite granola bars & I can’t agree with you more on the maple almond butter… I need a case or two! oxo
So delicious! My three year old and I made these last night. Today my husband called me at work to tell me how wonderful they are – healthy and tasty. Thanks for the inspiration.
Hey that’s awesome! Love your husband!!! What a great comment. Thank you. Robin oxo
Wow these look fantastic! I am always looking for new homemade granola bar recipes!
These are the bomb!!! Cannot stop eating them! oxox
Is there possibly a good substitution for the dates in this recipe?
How about prunes?
kid tested and approved! 11yo boy wants almonds crushed smaller, so will run them thru food processor. Making 2nd batch today for kids and chemo mom! xoxo
These look amazing! I think I am going to make them tonight. My son has a XC Invitational tomorrow and these combined with fresh fruit would be a great recovery snack and will transport easy!
Thank you for sharing!
Tori you and he will love them! They are a favorite here! oxo Good luck to his team!
Any Nutrition facts? Specifically, calories.
Cindi, At this time I don’t have nutritional stats but you can enter them in online to calculate. Working on adding.
I need to know if these could go out on the golf course in the summer without being messy. Hope you will be able to tell me by August 25th. Thanks!!!
Totally! oxo
These things are unreal! Even my fussy 7 year old will eat them even though she is a bit suspicious of the chewy parts (dates)… Told her it was sugar.. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her 😉 I wish nuts weren’t banned in our school.. Wish I could find a good but free version! thanks for sharing!
Love suspicious kids! My girls have given up and just assume something healthy is in there 😉 I’m so glad she likes them. oxo
Is there a way to make these without nuts? My son has allergies.
I haven’t tried but let me put that on my list. Stay tuned. Robin