Healthy Granola Bars - No Dairy, No Soy, No Nuts, Low in Sugar

LisaC

I have a 2 year old son who has never had a granola bar. Every brand I see in the store is has nuts or dairy or soy (all of which he is allergic to), so I decided to learn how to make my own. I began with what I thought would be a quick search online. However, I was shocked at the amount of sugar in all these so-called healthy recipes! It took me a while to find something I could work with. I finally found Ellie Krieger's Energy bar recipe. I changed the recipe up a bit based on my son's allergies and what I had on-hand, but it is based off of Ellie's original recipe.

These bars taste great! They are not overly sweet and sticky. However, every bite has a taste of dried fruit or sunflower seeds. Also, they are surprisingly filling. They really remind me a lot of a Cliff Bar. You can find the recipe on my blog, Simplicity: A Simple, Natural Life, or scroll down.


Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup sunflower seeds (raw preferred)

1/2 cup wheat germ (I used 1/4 stone ground oats 1/4 cup wheat bran because I was out of wheat germ)

1/4 cup whole wheat flour (pastry flour preferred)

1/2 cup dried apricots

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup dried figs

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup honey

2 large eggs

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit & coat a 9 X 13 pan with cooking spray.

Place all ingredients except the eggs, honey & maple syrup in a food processor and pulse until the ingredients are a relatively uniform size.

Next add the honey, maple syrup, and eggs. Pulse until just incorporated. (Tip: Spray your measuring cup with cooking spray before pouring in the honey or maple syrup & it won't stick inside the cup.)

Transfer to baking pan & spread evenly. if you spray your spatula with cooking spray it will be much easier.

Bake 20 minutes until just done. Let cool some & cut. Store in air tight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.