Sorry guys, but I just couldn’t help but tease you a little yesterday!
As promised I have a recipe for you today. But not just any recipe…this would actually be my first ever attempt at making my own homemade granola bars!
It’s no secret around here that I have a bit of an addiction to snack bars…
#proof that a hoarder CAN in fact be organized…despite the portrait painted on
prime time television.
Weekend project: Over the door shoe organizer turned snack bar holder! Feel free stand in utter awe of my genius-ness and then steal it for yourself! 😉
Unfortunately, there aren’t many bars out there that meet 100% of my expectations in the nutritional department. Alas, they can’t all be Simply Bars! 😉 I try to ignore the fact that some of the tastiest selections (here’s looking at you Luna) also have a pretty lengthy ingredient list with at least three different types of sugar.
So, I got in the kitchen on Saturday determined to make an all natural, low sugar but FULL of flavor snack bar!
It started with homemade almond butter…
Just almonds and a food processor…and maybe a little coconut oil at the end if you’re impatient like me! 😉
And ended with pure deliciousness!
Almond Butter Granola Bars
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Cook Time: 25-30 minutes
Keywords: bake snack dairy-free vegan vegetarian low sugar peanut free almonds oats maple syrup
Ingredients (12-15 bars)
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 flax egg (1 Tablespoon flax + 3 Tablespoons water)
- 1 cup sliced peaches (fresh or thawed from frozen)*, pureed
- 1/3 cup creamy almond butter
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon maple extract
- 1/8 cup pure maple syrup
- 10-12 drops liquid vanilla stevia (or more depending on taste)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Prepare flax “egg” in a small bowl and allow to set.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine oats, flour, and cinnamon.
4. Puree peaches in a blender until smooth then add to a bowl with almond butter, maple syrup, extracts, and flax egg and stir to combine.
5. Add wet ingredients to your oat and flour mixture.
6. Transfer onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 25-30 minutes or until edges start to crisp and turn brown.
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool on pan for 10 minutes before slicing.
8. Store in an airtight container for 2-3 days or wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze.
Notes:
You can really used any mild flavored fruit for the fruit puree. I was out of applesauce, so just used what I had on hand and it worked just fine. Pumpkin puree would also work.
If you don’t have maple extract (which I HIGHLY recommend. It’s fabulous in oats!) then you can sub in vanilla extract instead…they just won’t be as maple-y! 😉
And finally, if want to sub in regular flour for the coconut, I think it would work, just fine, but I would maybe increase it to 1/2 cup to compensate for the high absorption of the coconut flour.
Soft and chewy, and a little crumbly, these babies were calling my name from the kitchen counter all day yesterday. I did my best to save enough to photograph, but after that…
All bets were off!
And heck, with stats like these,
there is NO reason I can’t go back for seconds…or thirds! 😉
Do you frequently buy or make bars to have as daily snacks?
What do you look for (nutritionally speaking) in the bars that you choose?
**Edited to add**
Dude!!! How could I forget!
I’ve got some giveaway winners to announce!
Guess all this bar talk got me distracted! 😉
The winner of the free case of Simply Bars chosen by random.org isssssss:
And the winner of the sleek and stylish slow cooker chosen by Sue from SlimKicker is:
Congratulations ladies! I’ll be emailing you shortly to get your shipping deets!
Thank you all SO much for entering the giveaways. I love so much when I get the opportunity to give back to all my lovely readers out there! 🙂
Making these!!! But I might have to add in some protein powder for the flour…do you think that would work?
Dude, you totally stole my idea! That’s next on my list of experiments! I wanted to get a good base recipe down first before I started playing with my protein powder! 😉
THIS IS OUT OF CONTROLLLLL.
And I have maddddd respecttttt for your snack bar storage system. I am a FREAK for those lil guys as well, so this entire post just sings to my soulllllllllll!
Ahhh… you complete me. hahaha.
Haha! Love it. Love you! xoxox
This is why you are a star!
Aww, thank you Missy! You always know how to boost my ego! 😉
I flippin’ love you and I’m totally making these! (And probably going a bit crazy with protein powder and/or almond flour!)
By the way, I didn’t realize it was possible to have MORE bars than me… 😉
I plan on doing a bit more experimenting with protein powder soon! Just wanted to work out a good base recipe to start from first! 😉
And you wanna hear something funny? That wasn’t even ALL of them! Lol #foodieproblems
Awesome.. will be making this soon!
Yay! I’d love to know what you think! 😀
your bar storing technique is genius! so doing that and stealing the protein powder idea!
I always have to make my own granola bars because of my nut allergies! There seriously isn’t a SINGLE nut-free bar out there that has decent nutrition stats. 😛 BUT since I’m miraculously not allergic to almonds, I’m super excited about these bars! They look awesome!
Aww, bummer! I never even thought of that! You have to let me know if you try these out what you think of them!
I pinned this as soon as you posted it on FB. Will be making this with pumpkin puree… I’m a little too excited about it, actually.
Yay! You pinned me!…wait, does this mean we’re going steady? Are we going to the prom?!;)
I’ll bring the corsages!
I was droooooling over these on Instagram- so glad you posted the recipe!
I was thinking the SAME thing as Lindsay (and you, apparently!) about using protein powder (although I am obsessed with coconut flour!).
I usually make my own almond butter, but am all out. I bought 3 jars of Justin’s Vanilla Almond butter (I’m obsessed)- and wonder if I could sacrifice just eating it straight from the jar with a spoon and putting it into bar form….
I know! I lusted over your pic of Justin’s loot on IG…I’ve never even SEEN that flavor anywhere around here…so jealous! I bet it would taste fantastic in this…surely you can part with just one! 😉
And I actually debated about going for the protein powder in the beginning, but with my pancake fail the day before, I was a bit skittish! 😉
Oh my gosh I love the bar organizer! I have a bit of a bar problem too.. got a whole drawer full at work that my fiance doesn’t even know about 😉
Hahaha! You ARE a hoarder! Love it!
HEATHER! THESE I would ACTUALLY make! To be honest, I avoid bars due to high sugar content. The only ones I will have on occasion is The Simply Bar and I don’t even have those often because I guess I am just not a bar person?? Anyways, I would totally make these babe! SO impressive! Seriously! LOOK AT THOSE STATS! 🙂
Aww, thanks doll! That is the ONE thing I hate most about grab and go bars…I guess they think they need to add a ton of sugar so they’ll hold together! That’s why I wan’t to try recreating some of my favorites. The one I was going for this time is a lot crunchier, but I think with a few more experiments, I might be able to get closer! Fingers crossed!
They look good! As a few people have already said, I was thinking about substituting sun warrior for some of the flour, too! 🙂
Those look AMAZING. I was going to comment about how smart it was to use coconut flour because the higher absorbtion probably helped them stick together even better than they would have normally (which is usually my problem with granola bar making)….and then you alluded to that lovely fact. 🙂
Maybe one day I’ll start a line of Nutty Butter bars and you can help me formulate recipes? 🙂
Heck yeah!!! And oh my gosh, that last flavor? I mean, seriously girl, are you trying to kill me?! I about feel out of my chair!
yum!! 🙂 i can not wait to make these. they look perfect!!
Thank you Anne! I’d love to know what you think if you give them a try!
Ok, that shoe organizer is pure genius. Seriously.
hmmm. Would I be bad if I added vegan mini chocolate chips?? Ilove bars – usually either Kind or Larabar. I travel a lot for business, so I need gluten free emergency food with me most of the time. Again, thanks for the nutrition info, especially calories.
You’re very welcome! And I think mini chocolate chips would be a GREAT idea! I’ve just recently discovered the deliciousness of Kind bars…the dark chocolate peanut one makes me weak in the kneeeeees! And I know all about “emergency food”…ANYtime I leave the house, you’d think I was going on a half-day roadtrip by the number of snacks I pack! What can I say, I like having options! 😉
Oh man… As I sit here at my desk, I’m WISHING I had one of these right now! SOOOO making these to fend off those late afternoon hunger pangs when I don’t pack enough lunch!! LOL
Oh yes, these would most definitely cure those mid afternoon tummy rumblings…of course they’ll probably be replaced with “mmmm’s” 😉
I love this! So making these this weekend!
Awesome! Let me know what you think Katie!
I love this!! I’m making these… and that drippy egg this weekend!
Woo hoo! I want a play-by-play on Twitter! 😉
These look amazing. And I LOVE that first photo – it’s absolutely gorgeous!!
Thanks girlie! I’ve been working on my photo composition lately! 🙂
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i love how organized all your bars are haha its pretty awesome
Thanks love! …You should have seen it BEFORE! Ugh, whatta mess! Haha
I haven’t had sprouts in forever – and I’m so jealous of your bar stash! Bars never last long enough around me for me to accumulate that many (and that many different flavors). I always go through them at a rate of at least one or two per day (whoops). They’re just so yummy!
Haha! Well, I kind of have a problem whenever I see bars on sale…I can’t quit picking them up! I try my best to limit myself to one bar a day (sometimes that happens ;)) but at the rate I buy them, I don’t think I’ll ever run out! Lol I can’t help it, I’m a sucker for anything “new”!
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