These tasty treats are great for a quick breakfast, an after dinner treat, or a midday snack. I love to have one an hour before a long run. It fuels up my system without making me "full". This recipe was inspired by a similar one I found in Eating Well magazine, but I had to tweak it a bit because the bars fell apart too easily. It's super easy, packed with whole foods, and quite yummy!
Ingredients:
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (raw, not salted or roasted)
1 tablespoon flaxseeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 cup unsweetened whole grain puff cereal (like Kashi's 7 Whole Grain Puffs)
1/3 cup currants
1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons almond butter
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spread oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds and sesame seeds on a large baking sheet. Bake until the oats are lightly toasted and the nuts are fragrant, shaking the pan halfway through, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Add cereal, currants, apricots and raisins; toss to combine.
Combine almond butter, sugar, honey, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low, stirring frequently, until the mixture bubbles lightly, 2-5 minutes.
Immediately pour the almond butter mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well, until no dry spots remain. Transfer to an 8x8 cooking pan and press down firmly into the pan. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Cut into 8 bars.
OOOO! This looks good. I like to have a granola-type bar on hand for snacks, but always feel guilty about all the preservatives and nonsense ingredients that they inevitably contain. Thanks for a great alternative!!
ReplyDeleteYummmm! Rebecca, these are so good! I love the almond flavor but I might try it with sunflower seed butter so I can let my little Anna, w/ nut allergies, try them too. I didn't have any of the Kashi puffed cereal so I tried it with puffed rice. I will definitely be making these again. Thanks for sharing :) Can you freeze these or how do you recommend storing them?
ReplyDeleteIt would work with any of the seed or nut butters. Essentially that is your glue.
ReplyDeleteI just store them in an airtight container. They usually don't last too long around here. But yes, I would imagine you could freeze them. There isn't anything that really spoils quickly in this, so a container on the counter should last a good week or two.