Now that we have reached our favorite months of the year with summer finally arriving, we find ourselves adventuring out of the house much more. With last-minute pool invitations, bike rides, and camping trips, we need to have some portable snacks. Our favorite thing to bring with us are granola bars, as they have just enough sweetness to tempt us, but still qualify as a healthy snack to Mom.
Until Mom saw a video about the dangers of highly processed foods. Somehow we knew we were in for trouble. When she started explaining what all of those extra additives did to our bodies, we immediately ran for the pantry and started hiding the food labels of all of our favorite snacks. That is when she grabbed the granola bars. The horror on our faces almost made her laugh. Our demands were very clear. DO NOT read that label.
Soy Lecithin, corn syrup, dextrose, barley malt, and more dextrose just in case we missed it the first time. Great. Just great. There goes our snacks.
Can Homemade Granola Bars be Kid-Friendly?
Since saying goodbye to our favorite store-bought cereals, we have all adjusted to eating our homemade granola and chocolate versions. If we were honest, the transition was much easier than we anticipated. Could we transition to homemade granola bars? It was time to start experimenting.
Can Granola Bars Be Healthy?
When we found this recipe, we were pleasantly surprised at how easy it seemed to make these bars. There are so many versions out there, but we were strictly looking for one with chocolate to best resemble our favorite store-bought granola bars.
We mixed our dry ingredients in a large bowl. We know from making our homemade granola, that it is easiest to melt the coconut oil first for measuring purposes. This also makes it so much easier to mix with the dry ingredients.
We poured our honey, maple syrup, oil, and extract into our mixing bowl and carefully mixed.
Next, we poured it onto our lined baking sheet and pressed it into a large rectangle, about 1 inch high.
Cutting the Bars:
After they cooked, we let them cool and put the entire rectangle onto a cutting board. Cutting the bars was a bit difficult as they were pretty hard. We had a few chunks that fell off, but for the most part, we were pleased to get real-looking granola bars!
We decided to wrap half of the bars in plastic wrap for eating when on the go. This took awhile, and I think next time we would just put them in plastic baggies.
So now we have our healthy granola bars and they are not at risk of being confiscated by Mom!
How to Make Kid-Friendly, Healthy Granola Bars
Healthy granola bars are an ideal snack for busy kids! These bars are kid-friendly with added chocolate, and Mom will be pleased that they don't contain any unfamiliar ingredients found in store-bought bars.
Ingredients
- 4 Cups Old Fashioned Oats
- 1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 Cup Shredded Unsweetened Coconut
- I Cup Ground Almonds
- 1 Cup Chocolate Chips (You can substitute raisins or other dried fruit for the chocolate chips.)
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/2 Cup Coconut Oil (Or Other Oil of Choice)
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 Cup Honey
- 1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Combine dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
- Melt coconut oil in a measuring cup and add maple syrup, honey, and extract.
- Add wet ingredients to dry and mix thoroughly.
- Pour onto a lined baking sheet and form into a rectangle about 1 inch thick.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.
- If desired, wrap each bar in plastic wrap for an easy on the go snack.
Notes
Adapted from Weelicious