What was your favorite thing in your lunch box as a kid? I loved a fresh-picked peach or plum from our trees or an oatmeal raisin cookie.
These days I occasionally have time in the morning to pack a lunch for my husband; I like to do this because well, I love the man. Granola bars are are an easy treat to throw into his bag as a mid-morning or late- afternoon pick-me-up. However, store bought granola bars, no matter the brand or the store, are loaded with sugar. The pick-me-up granola bar can also be nicknamed the throw-me-down-sugar-crash. I have a recipe for making granola from scratch and I just altered the recipe by adding bananas and unsweetened apple sauce to make the granola moist and stick together for the perfect granola bar shape.
Of course, you can chose your own creation by adding cranberries, pistachios, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, or even dark chocolate. Just remember that dried fruit is high in sugar, so do what I do and chop it in small bits, so you can get more flavor spread out by using less fruit.
Homemade Granola Bars
Need:
- 1 cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (Gluten Free)
- 3/4 cup Unsweetened Applesauce
- One Ripe Banana
- Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
- 1/4 cup flaxseeds
- 1 cup of your choice of nuts
- 1/2 cup of your choice of dried fruit
- cinnamon
How:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl mash banana and applesauce together and set aside. On a baking sheet toast nuts and coconut until the coconut is light brown. Add the remaining ingredients to the mixing bowls and mix well. Then transfer to a baking dish, moisten your fingers with water and pat the top, so the ingredients are firmly packed inside the baking dish. Bake for 20-25 mins or until golden brown on top. Allow cooling time and then slice into squares.
Excellent! I actually have all these ingredients in the pantry, so it must be something I would approve of! I will try making some tommorrow.
Thanks Sande! I hope your granola bars turned out great!
OOOH! Pinterest time
You can also call this “vegan”
(love the Rick icon lol)
These look great! Just what I was looking for. Thanks =)
Thanks Kati and thanks for stopping by my blog! You have the sweetest blue eyed baby girl!!! Stacey
These look great but can you use something other then banana’s? I’m allergic to them..
Hi Christina! Thanks for commenting. Yes, you can use almond butter, peanut butter, apple butter, apple sauce, dates, or coconut oil. Here is another recipe http://www.thesundaysparkle.com/2012/09/i-love-when-you-talk-desserts-to-me-granola-bars/ (minus the bananas- just add more of something else in place of the bananas) Happy Baking! Stacey
Hi, these look fantastic but I was wondering how long they would keep for? I’m the only one in my house who would eat them and I’m wondering the best way of storage? In the fridge maybe? Even the freezer?
Thanks
a week is about tge extent of freshness in a air tight contaiber. i have never froze the bars, but i imagine it is possible.
These seem to be very low in sugar- even the natural ones! I’m not sure how many servings this yields (I’m VERY looking forward to making these tonight!), but if it’s divided into 6 portions you only have about 8g of sugar per serving. A quick Google search showed that in total this recipe only has 47 grams of sugar; unsweetened applesauce=11g, one ripe banana=17g, unsweetened shredded coconut=1g, dried cranberries (my choice)=18g.
BRAVO Stacy! =)
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How much coconut do you use?
I love coconut and used about a cup and a half. You can use about a 1/2 cup to whole cup. Depending on your enjoyment of coconut. More coconut will make it slightly more dense.
Thank you so much for the yummy recipe. I have made it three times so far and each time it has come out great!
Mellissa! That is wonderful to know. Thanks for your comment. Have a great day
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I’m wondering, do you use banana because of personal preference or does it have something to do with how the recipe turns out/bakes? Could I use cherry or peach or any other fruit instead? Thank you!
Petra, Thanks for writing. I like the bananas but they also serve a role as the “glue” for the granola and they keep them moist. Dried fruit would not work but you could use peanut butter, almond butter or any other mushy, somewhat sticky ingredient to keep the granola from falling apart.
thanks again,
Stacey
thanks for answering! If it’s not dried fruit, but fresh peach, plum or cherries, run through the blender, would that glue, too?
Peaches, plums and cherries from the blender sound like it would be too much liquid (juice) you could try straining the fruit of its juice and experimenting. I think the taste will be fine… almost like a cobbler even.. who knows what will happen. It will make it slightly more dense, that is what the bananas do as well as applesauce but I have never tried with other fruits. It certainly sounds good!! Please let me know if you try this!!
So simple to make, it was a breeze thanks to you! They are cooling now, I was wondering how long they should cool for and if they are supposed to be really chewy(soft)? I followed instructions fully but I am just making sure I didn’t do it wrong or cook it in a wrong type of pan (I cooked it in a loaf pan)
Thanks
Courtney, Thanks so much for writing. I am so happy you made the recipe and I hope you are enjoying them.
By now they are cooled off. My apologies for not being able to respond sooner. I think it is best to let them set till they cool down. Just like a cookie. Or they could fall apart. If I am ever to eager to bite into them. I just pop them in the fridge for a few minutes. And Cooking them in any sort of baking pan or dish is just fine. It depends on the shape and thickness that you want them. Enjoy! Thanks for being a reader!!
What can you substitute for flax seeds? I can’t seem to find them in any of my grocery stores and I desperately want to make this – it looks so delicious!
chia seeds or wheat germ would work. If you have a speciality store or health food store in your town try it there. Flax tastes good and is a great source for fiber. thanks
Hey there! I’ve been following your site for a long time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Austin Tx! Just wanted to mention keep up the fantastic work!
Oh fantastic recipe for my little man.