These are so delicious and chewy! I saw some granola bars which are non-baked, but the nuts and oats are toasted separately. I don’t like doing all those steps, so I just baked the granola bars after mixing all the raw ingredients. Way easier.
The basic recipe for this is just dates, oats, coconut oil and bananas. Then you can add whatever you like, such as cranberries, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, chocolate chips…
This is very simple to make. I’m really not joking. I just mixed the mashed banana with the dates (pulsed in a food processor so it turns into a paste), coconut oil and oats. And I added cranberries, walnuts and almonds. Using a tip from a lot of granola bar recipes, I pressed the granola really firmly into a parchment lined 9 x 5 inch baking pan so it won’t be all crumbly afterwards.
I baked it for 35-40 minutes at 135 °C (275 °F). To cut it into bars, I cut the lines right after it came out of the oven, but I left the granola bars in the pan for 2 to 3 hours before cutting again on the lines and removing to eat.
The only real hiccup I had with this recipe is my food processor! I really need to get a new one because mine does not chop anything at all. When I was pulsing the dates into a paste, I had to soak the chopped dates in 2 tbsp. of water before pulsing, because if not, my food processor will pretty much spin the blade around and move the dates around, but without actually cutting it.
Cranberry Harvest Granola Bars
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped pitted dates, soaked in 2 tbsp. water
2 1/4 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup (52 g) coconut oil, melted
1 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup cranberries
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup almonds, chopped
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 175 °C (350 °F). Line a 9 x 5 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a food processor, pulse the dates (that were soaked in water) until it looks like a paste.
- Mix the date paste with all the rest of the ingredients in a medium bowl. The mixture should stick together a bit, if not, add an other mashed banana or more coconut oil.
- Transfer the granola into the pan. Use the back of a spoon to firmly press down the granola to make it very compact. Lower the oven temperature to 135 °C (275 °F) and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until lightly brown. Take out of the oven to cool down for a few minutes.
- Using a bread knife, cut the shape of the granola bars and let it rest for 2 to 3 hours. Then cut the lines you made before and take out the granola bars. Can keep in a covered container for 5 days.
A Kitchen Fable 