My word friends this week has been a doozy! (I just wrote “doozy” and my spell check just doesn’t like it.)
As is inevitable, and more than normal, this time of year we (collectively all of us) have struggled with a cold bug that just won’t quit. It’s a doozy. 🙂
Over the last four weeks one of us has been sick or recovering. It was only fair that we all took turns in the doctor’s waiting room, and then snuggled on the couch, under warm blankets with Loony dog sitting on our feet. She really doesn’t mind. As far as she is concerned snuggled on the couch with one of her favourite peoples is exactly how life should be all.the.time
So… my kitchen time has been limited lately. Either I just didn’t feel like cooking, I had no-one to cook for because no one felt like eating, or we were so busy playing catch up that we just weren’t home to eat…. Sometimes life is like that. Seriously you guys, we ran out of cream for coffee last week and I drank mine black for three days. Three days! Black coffee.
That’s how bad it was.
Today we are paying homage to a granola bar that has saved the day more than once this past month. I am very serious. This Almond and Cherry Granola Bar will save you from yourself.. So when mom doesn’t feel like cooking, or doesn’t have time for a run to the store, or whatever life throws at you… having a batch of these stashed in the freezer will save you! As in save you from the vending machine in the lunch room, fries at the arena kiosk, from another bowl of cereal, from near starvation when mom has not made it to the store yet….
Almonds, oats, dried cherries…. this bar is vegan and full of nuts and seeds to keep you full and nourished. Relatively low in sugar. Lots of good fats. Protein. All the good stuff. And gluten-free too. Wrap individual bars with plastic wrap or aluminum file and stash them in the freezer. They will be ready for when you need them.
A few notes:
- If you don’t have oat flour on hand you can easily make some by grinding rolled oats in a blender until a fine powder. My Blendtec does this in seconds, a conventional blender may take a bit longer but still relatively quickly and economically. If you are not worried about gluten-free you can easily use all-purpose or whole wheat flour.
- I used a mixture of coconut oil and avocado oil. I like avocado oil for its neutral flavour. A light olive oil or any neutral tasting oil will work. The coconut oil stands in for the butter typically found in these recipes. You can use butter if you are not vegan, or if want to keep these vegan go with a vegan butter substitute like Earth Balance if coconut oil is not your thing. Personally I have a deep love for all things coconutty. Whatever you choose you will need some solid fat to get that little bit of crunchy that is just so good about these bars.
- Ground flaxseed and almond butter help hold everything together.
- I used both walnuts and almonds in this recipe. Feel free to mix it up and try your favourites. You can change-up the dried fruit too – cranberries, chopped apricots, raisins (who does that!), or what have you
- For more healthy snack ideas and recipes using nuts check out Nuts.com
Almond and Cherry Granola Bars
a not too sweet gluten-free and vegan snack bar. great for on the go
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time40 mins
Total Time55 mins
Servings: 16
Ingredients
- 1-2/3 cups rolled oats
- 1/3 oat flour
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup ground flax seed
- 1/4 cup hemp seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 cup dried cherries
- 3/4 cups walnuts
- 3/4 cups almonds
- zest from one lemon
- 3 tablespoons avocado oil
- 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 1/2 cup almond butter
- 1/3 cup rice syrup or honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Line an 9 x 9 baking pan with parchment paper.
- Stir together oats, flour, sugar, flax, hemp, cherries and nuts and salt.
- In a separate bowl whisk together, lemon zest, oils, almond butter and syrup. Whisk until smooth, then add to dry ingredients. Stir and toss until well combined and all the dry ingredients are incorporated. Dump mixture into the prepared pan and press firmly in an even layer. Use the back of a measuring cup to help push firmly and make it even all the way around.
- Bake 30-40 minutes. Bars will be firm and brown around the edges. Cook in the pan then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before cutting into bars.
- Using the parchment paper to lift them bars out of the pan. Cut the entire batch in half cross-wse, then cut each half into 8 skinny bars. For a total of 16.
- For long term storage, wrap individual bars in foil or plastic wrap and keep in the freezer until ready to go.
Thank’s for visiting. I’m Trish. I share healthy family recipes to inspire your family to eat their veggies and save room for cake!
