Earth Day Granola Bars Recipes

SUPER SEEDY GRANOLA BARS

Steps:

• Toast your oats and almonds in a 350-degree F (176 C) oven for 13-15 minutes or until slightly golden brown.
• Process dates in a food processor until small bits remain (about 1 minute). It should form a "dough" like consistency (mine rolled into a ball).
• Place oats, almonds and dates in a large mixing bowl. Add seeds and set aside.
• Warm agave and peanut or almond butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir and pour over oat mixture and then mix, breaking up the dates to disperse throughout. Use a spoon or your hands to thoroughly mix.
• Transfer to an 8×8 dish or other small pan lined with plastic wrap or parchment paper so they lift out easily. (Or use 2/3 of a 9×13 // as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size)
• Cover with parchment or plastic wrap and press down with something flat, such as a book, to get them really packed tight. This will help them from being crumbly. Chill in the fridge or freezer for 15-20 minutes to harden.
• Remove bars from dish and chop into 10 even bars (as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size). Store in an airtight container for up to a few days. I kept mine in the freezer to keep them extra fresh, but it isn't necessary.

HOMEMADE GRANOLA BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 by 12-inch baking dish and line it with parchment paper.
• Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
• Place the butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dates, apricots, and cranberries and stir well.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Wet your fingers and lightly press the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.

GRANOLA BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch square baking dish.
• Spread the oats and coconut evenly across a baking sheet.
• Toast oats and coconut in preheated oven until browned, about 10 minutes; transfer to a large mixing bowl.
• Mix honey, peanut butter, vanilla extract, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook and stir until smooth. Pour the honey mixture over the oats and coconut; stir to coat. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish.
• Bake in preheated oven until beginning to dry, about 15 minutes for crunchy granola bars, less if you like them chewy. Cool completely before cutting.

EASY NO-BAKE GRANOLA BARS

Steps:

• Line a 9-inch square baker with two strips of criss-crossed parchment paper, cut to fit neatly against the base and up the sides. The parchment paper will make it easy for you to slice the bars later.
• Place the oats in a large mixing bowl**. Add the cinnamon and salt, and stir to combine. Set aside.
• Now we'll blitz the mix-ins briefly in the food processor or blender (or, you can chop them by hand). Add any large nuts (like almonds or pecans) first and blitz for a few seconds. Then add the rest and run the machine for a few more seconds, until the ingredients are all broken up into pieces smaller than your pinky nail. Pour the mix-ins into the bowl of oats.
• In a 2-cup liquid measuring cup, measure out the nut butter. Top with ½ cup honey and the vanilla extract. Stir until well blended. If you must, you can gently warm the liquid mixture on the stovetop or in the microwave, but make sure it's close to room temperature before you pour it into the dry mixture (this is especially important if using chocolate, since it will melt).
• Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Use a big spoon to mix them together until the two are evenly combined and no dry oats remain. This takes some arm muscles, but you can do it! If the mixture was easy to mix together, that's a sign that you need to add some more oats-sprinkle in more oats until you can't incorporate any more.
• Transfer the mixture to the prepared square baker. Use your spoon to arrange the mixture fairly evenly in the baker, then use the bottom of a flat, round surface (like a short, sturdy drinking glass) to pack the mixture down as firmly and evenly as possible.
• Cover the baker and refrigerate for at least one hour, or preferably overnight. (The oats need time to soak up some of the moisture so they aren't sticky.) When you're ready to slice, lift the bars out of the baker by grabbing both pieces of parchment paper on opposite corners. Use a sharp knife to slice the bars into 4 even columns and 4 even rows.
• Wrap individual bars in plastic wrap or parchment paper (if you store them all together, they will stick to one another). Bars keep well for several days at room temperature, a couple of weeks in the fridge, or several months in a freezer-safe bag in the freezer for best flavor.

EARTH DAY GRANOLA BARS

Steps:

• heat oven to 325degrees.
• roast the oats on a cookie sheet with the seeds mixed in for 10 minutes, mixing frequently to prevent burning.
• line a 9x 13 pan with foil and brush with oil or margarine to keep bars from sticking.
• Beat the egg with the honey, oil, sugar, cinnamon, salt, vanilla and add the warm toasted oats and seeds on top in large mixing bowl, before stirring sprinkle with the flour, top with the blueberries and kiwis and then mix to combine -- quickly combine and place on the foil lined baking dish and press into pan for an even height bar.
• Bake 30 minutes, top rack and rotate the pan 180 degrees 1/2 way through so they cook evenly.
• allow to cool until you can handle the foil and then remove from pan and let cool completely on cooling rack for at least an hour and then slice into 24 bars on a cutting board with a large knife.
• will keep wrapped in fridge for 2 weeks!

CINNAMON BERRY GRANOLA BARS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Butter and line the base of a 18 x 25cm tin. Mix the oats, seeds and nuts in a roasting tin, then put in the oven for 5-10 mins to toast.
• Meanwhile, warm the butter, honey and sugar in a pan, stirring until butter is melted. Add the oat mix, cinnamon and dried fruit, then mix until all the oats are well coated. Tip into the tin, press down lightly, then bake for 30 mins. Cool in tin, then cut into 12 bars.