Super Heroic Granola Bars

Here, as promised, is the recipe for my favorite granola bars.  As I mentioned, I used to bake professionally.  Mea culpa.  It took me a little while to get to this because the first time I made them at home I was halving a large commercial-sized recipe, but forgot to halve the oats.  So, the result was way drier than it should have been and I ended up with really delicious granola instead!  Again, yes, I did once bake professionally.

 

TREK Bars

*These delicious gluten-free, vegan, fruit and nut-packed granola bars are a great addition to anyone’s snack list, but they are especially great on the trail!  Enjoy.

**I thought about changing the measurements in the recipe to cups since everyone doesn’t necessarily own a kitchen scale, but then I realized that most of the ingredients are either being purchased bulk or in bags already marked, so I didn’t bother. 

***All ingredients can be found at your local health food store.  The nut and seeds in the bulk aisle and brown rice syrup is usually with alternative sugars.

Yields: 48

2 lbs rolled oats (Bob’s Red Mill “Gluten-free” Oats to ensure GF quality)

½ lb sesame seeds

½ lb sunflower seeds

½ lb pumpkin seeds

½ lb masserated coconut

½ lb dried cranberries

¼ lb (app 1 cup)  dried apricot  (diced)

¼ lb dried black currants or blueberries

1 T salt

10 oz finely chopped almonds

1.5 jars brown rice syrup

2 ¼ cup canola oil

1 T vanilla extract

Preheat over to 325 degrees.

Finely chop the apricots and almonds in a food processor.  Mix all dry ingredients together.  I put them in a large soup pot, as this amount is too big for my 5 qt countertop mixer. Add brown rice syrup, oil and vanilla.  Mix well. 

Lay a sheet of parchment paper on a baking tray.  Divide the mixture between two baking trays and spread out evenly.  Lay a piece of cling-wrap on top of the mixture and roll out with a rolling pin.  The goal here is to press the mixture across the whole tray to an even thickness. Remove cling-wrap and place in oven on bottom two racks.

Before rolling on the right.  After rolling on the left.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. 

You want the whole top to brown slightly.  Don’t worry if the edges get darker, you can cut these off before slicing.  Let cool and slice into 24 pieces per tray.  Can be kept on counter, wrapped for one week.  Also may be frozen.


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How did it go?  Any questions?  Let me know and enjoy!

xoxo
Nell