Healthy and Easy Granola Bar Recipe

 The current political climate is really stressing me out. Two things that help me with stress relief are working out and baking. The thought of a Donald Trump presidency has recently given me visible arm muscles, increased my running speed, and has brought you this granola bar recipe.

Some mornings it feels really impossible to get all of the kids ready, out the door, and arrive at Pearl's pre-school on time. Granola bars are perfect for a quick on-the-go breakfast to help speed up the morning process. I have had a difficult time finding store bought ones though that are both healthy and don't cost a fortune. I set out one week to find a recipe that would fit this criteria to make our mornings less stressful. I couldn't find a single recipe that involved an amount of sugar that I was comfortable with so I decided to make my own. The first batch turned out decently, but with a few more rounds and modifications under my belt, I have finally come up with a healthy recipe that my kids like. It's also super easy!

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup sliced almonds (or other nuts)

1/2 cup flaxseed meal

1 ripe banana (mashed)

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

Directions:

Put rolled oats, almonds, and flaxseed meal in a large bowl and set aside. Line an 8x8 square baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.

Bring mashed banana and honey to a boil in a sauce pan over med-high heat. Let it boil for just one minute. Quickly remove from the heat, add peanut butter and vanilla, then stir until combined.

Pour the contents of the sauce pan into the large bowl of oats and other ingredients. Mix until well combined. Add your chocolate chips if using and mix them in as well. Pour this mixture into the lined 8x8 dish. Press it all down firmly and evenly into your dish. Sprinkle the sea salt over the top and press down once more. Put the dish in the freezer for a couple of hours, then cut to your preferred size and enjoy!

This granola bar recipe is gluten free and can be easily modified to work for our vegan friends. You just need to substitute maple syrup for the honey. If you don't have sliced almonds or other nuts, just increase your oats to 4 cups and they will still turn out great. I have used both natural organic peanut butter as well as Skippy and both worked just fine. I'm sure most nut butters would work here if you need to replace peanut butter for something else. I store mine in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Here's to stress free mornings and stress reducing hobbies as well :)

-Kira

Banana Almond Gluten Free Muffins

I make these whole wheat banana muffins a lot.  We love them, but I have been looking for a way to mix things up a bit.  I decided to make a gluten free option.  After a little experimenting, I came up with this recipe.  They are super moist and just so good.  I really had no idea that gluten free muffins could be this delicious.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups almond meal/flour

1 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup flaxseed meal

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 large ripe bananas (or 3.5 - 4 small bananas), mashed

3/4 cup honey

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 eggs

Semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Sliced almonds for topping (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly grease your muffin pan.  I used coconut oil to grease mine.

2. Combine dry ingredients in one large bowl.  Mix bananas, honey, applesauce, and eggs in a second bowl.  Then stir your wet ingredients into the dry.  Add in chocolate chips if desired.

3. Fill your muffin cups 3/4 full.  

4. Place sliced almonds on top (optional)

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes.  This should make about 18 muffins.

6. Let them sit for at least 20 minutes before removing them.  They should set up pretty well, but are more fragile since they don't have traditional flour.  I managed to get 17 of 18 out of the cups fully intact.

Let me know if you try them!

-Kira