During the Summer Everett takes swim classes. All the kids have bars at swim class, all of them. Everett thinks he needs bars in his life too. So comes my idea for these healthy nut and seed granola bars. He loves them, I love them, there’s no sugar added and they are loaded with goodness.
We make a big batch of these, then take them to swim class for him to enjoy alongside his bar-loving, swimming, friends. It’s become habitual – swim lesson, wrap up in towel, eat bar. If I forget the bar, things are not good. Usually some other mom comes in for backup but sometimes I just fail and we go out for bagels after 🙂
Everett loves baking these with me, which also entails eating a lot of the ingredients – nuts, honey, dried fruit. I won’t complain about that!!
The recipe for these comes from my energy bite recipe, slightly altered and then baked off. So if you’d rather eat them in raw form, go for the original recipe. Both are great, one just looks and feels like a granola bar 🙂
Healthy Date, Oat, and Nut Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup rolled oats gluten free
- 1 cup nuts (I use walnuts and almonds or whatever I have on hand!)
- 2 tablespoons flax seeds
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 10-12 medjool dates seeds removed and chopped (10 large or 12 medium)
- 4 tablespoons honey or agave
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup dried tart cherries chopped
Instructions
- Lightly grease a 9x9 baking dish and preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- In a food processor pulse the oats, nuts and seeds until a flour-like meal is formed. Add dates then add honey, tablespoon at a time until the mixture starts to clump together (you may noir need the full 4 tablespoons). Add in the vanilla and salt and pulse a few more times to combine. Stir in the chopped cherries.
- Turn out the mixture onto the prepared baking dish and use parchment paper or a spatula to press the mixture into a flax, even surface. The bars should be 3/4-1 inch thick.
- Bake for 20 minutes then let cool before cutting into preferred bar sizes.
These sound so good! I know what you mean about snacks after swimming! The second we jump into the pool Naomi starts pointing to her mouth and saying “eeeeee” for eat! I have so conditioned them that they get to have some sort of bar or fruit snack on the walk home from the pool that she asks for it as soon as she puts her swim suit on! LOL! But let’s be real…wasn’t one of the best parts about swimming the snacks after when we were kids?! 😉
So true!! It is funny how habitual kids can be!
Hi, How much do the 10-12 medjool dates weigh? I hate dates, so was thinking of replacing them with another dried fruit.
Jill, I’m not sure as the dates are actually what hold everything together. The bars don’t have a heavy date flavor but they are a sweetener and binder. The only other dried fruit that could work is figs but they aren’t as sticky as the dates. If you give them a try please let me know! Thanks! Becky