June 28th...Granola bars...adventures in baking!

OK I'm updating one of my favorite recipes and "go-to" snacks for the kids.  I decided to create this bar because the store bought bars, as convenient as they are, and yes sometimes I buy them too...are full sugar and 42 other ingredients that I can't pronounce.  

My granola bars have 8 ingredients...just say'n!

It seems each time I make these I change things up a bit...sometimes it's good and sometimes not so good.  Honestly I was feeling a bit lazy on Wednesday when I made this batch and thought I could speed things up by using my food processor...well my mini processor pureed the bananas just fine but was not powerful enough for the dates...let's just say my dishwasher was filling up fast!

So I pulled out the beast and went to town on chopping up the dates...quick hint from one of my Boot Camper's Janine, soak your dates in warm water for a few minutes while your getting things organised.  This will make them chop up easier and not burn out the motor in your food processor!

If it's for the kids and it's healthy, I like to add dark chocolate chips so they think it's a treat.  If you put your dark chocolate chips in a baggie and pound them out, you can use less as they spread through-out the mixture.  This means less sugar and less calories added to the recipe.

As my adventures went along, I mixed all wet ingredients then slowly added the dry.  I thought if I added the oats last, they wouldn't get pulverized in the  food processor cause I was just "pulsing it" slowly...I was sooo wrong!

In the end, they turned out soft and chewy and tasted great.

Below, is the original recipe that I didn't mess with!  Notice how the oats are whole and not all minced up!

Above, is a picture of the batch I made today, AND mixed all the ingredients in by hand, except for the dates, which I used the food processor.  These are more like bars and easier for the kids to eat.

On a side note, today was not my day for baking...I started out with a batch of bars in the oven, shortly after I could smell smoke and wondered if something was on fire in the oven...nope, just the wax paper!  ARRGGG!  Why  can't Wax paper and Parchment paper be two different colors...just say'n.  My next mess...if you look close at the picture, you will notice that I'm holding the blades to my mini food processor and in the processor are dates.  I'm trying to chop the dates up and in between, I keep taking the lid off and on.  I can't figure out why the're not getting smaller...after a few minutes of this, I look down at the counter as I'm pulsing the dates and see the blade sitting there. Good thing I can laugh at myself!  You can get really creative with these bars and add all kinds of healthy stuff such as nuts...almonds & cashews, seeds...flax or chia, dried fruits like apricots, coconut or berries.  JUST BE CAUTIOUS...the more you add, the more you increase the calories! I used a cookie sheet, and got about 15 bars out of this recipe.  I cut the bars a little bigger than what you'd get from a store bought bar and it works out to about 105 calories a bar!

INGREDIENTS:

-1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce

-2 mashed bananas

-1/4 cup Sunflower oil

-1 cup chopped dates (pre-soak dates in warm water for 5 mins.)

-1/4 cup unsweetened cranberries

-1/2 cup Coconut flour

-1 1/2 cups large flake oats

Mix wet and dry ingredients separate, then combine together in a bowl.  Line a cookie sheet with Parchment paper for thinner bars or use a 9x9 glass dish for thicker bars.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 mins...ovens vary so poke bars with a toothpick and if it comes out clean your done!