Healthy Homemade Granola Bars With White Chocolate And Pecans
Easy-peasy no-bake healthy homemade granola bars made from pulsed dates, oats, peanut butter and honey or maple syrup. I also add pecan nuts, maple syrup, white chocolate and dried apricots, but you can add your favourite fruits, nuts, chocolates and seeds. These are perfect for a healthy mid-morning or afternoon snack!
1cupchopped pecan nuts (or other mixed unsalted nuts of your choice)
1/4cuphoney or maple syrup (I used a mixture of both)
1/4cuppeanut or almond butter
1/2cupdried apricots (optional)chopped white chocolate, other dried fruit, banana chips, a tablespoon of raw cacao powder/sesame seeds/sunflower or pumpkin seeds etc. (I added dried apricots, white chocolate, sesame seeds & a few other seeds that I happened to have.)
Put the dates in a food processor and process until they form a gooey ball (I didn’t have a food processor when I made mine so I mashed them up with a fork – that worked fine!)
Put the dates in a large bowl and add the oats, nuts and any other dry ingredients you want to add (apart from the chocolate if using). Smash everything into the dates with a wooden spoon.
Put the honey/maple syrup and peanut butter in a separate bowl and microwave in 30-second intervals until you can stir them together easily. (Alternatively, heat gently in a small saucepan.)
Pour the peanut butter and honey/syrup mixture over the dry oat and date mixture and squash everything together again really well. Let cool, then add the chocolate.
Tip the mixture into an 8x8 baking tin lined with baking parchment. Spread out, push down and level off evenly with the back of a big metal spoon.
Put the bars into the fridge or freezer for at least half an hour to ‘set’, then cut into 10 equal bars.
Keep in an airtight container for up to a week, or wrap them separately and store in the freezer until needed.
Notes
Customizing: Adapt this recipe freely from the basic dates-oats-peanut butter-honey/syrup recipe by adding dried fruits, nuts, seeds, chocolates etc. of your choice. Enjoy!Storing: Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.Freezing: Wrap individually (secure with tape) and freeze in a freezer bag for up to 2 months.