Powerful Bars: Healthy Granola Bars You Can Make Yourself

• By
• Jenn Chic

Image by Jenn Chic
These healthy granola bars are completely customizable, so you never have to make the same bars twice

Make your own granola bars with this powerful combination of ingredients

This isn’t your average granola bar. This is breakfast. This is a post-workout snack. This is a much needed boost when hiking The Chief or biking the trails in North Van. This is power.

The recipe is very adaptable to suit the season and your favourite flavours. Swap out seeds for local hazelnuts and walnuts from the farmer’s market. Use a dehydrator to dry your own BC peaches, apricots, plums and cherries as they become available this summer. Try goji berries, dried blueberries, or hemp seeds for a super-powered antioxidant kick.

Ingredients

• 1¼ cups rolled oats
• ½ cup pumpkin seeds
• ½ cup sesame seeds
• ½ cup ground flax seeds
• 1½ cups unsweetened crisp brown rice cereal
• ½ cup dried BC peaches
• ½ cup dried BC apricots
• ¼ cup raisins
• 1 cup brown rice syrup or honey
• ¼ natural cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

1. Grease a 9 x 13 pan with butter or coconut oil.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, seeds and dried fruit. Any combination of dried fruit and seeds can be used as long as the total amount in maintained.
3. Combine the rice syrup, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a small saucepan and heat over medium-high heat. Stir constantly as it comes to a boil and begins to thicken, about 4 minutes. Honey will take a bit longer to thicken.
4. Pour hot liquid over the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
5. Spread into the prepared pan and press down with slightly damp hands. The harder the mix is pressed, the more compact the finished bars will be.
6. Let cool to room temperature. Cut into desired size or shape.