The granola bar you choose to snack on when that 3 p.m. hunger strikes can make or break your afternoon. Opt to munch on a bar that's devoid of any nutrients, overly sweet, and so crispy it could break a tooth, and you're almost guaranteed to feel mentally unsatisfied and hangry 30 minutes later. But if you decide to instead grab one of these crispy homemade granola bars, you'll score all the energizing nutrients and actually satisfying flavors you need to power through that mid-day slump.
Sweet and Salty Homemade Granola Bars
Makes 12 bars
Prep time: 10 minutes; chill time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
Directions
- Line a 8×8 or 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper.
- In saucepan, whisk together almond butter and honey. Warm on low heat until creamy and well-combined, stirring often. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Set aside to cool.
- While the almond butter-honey mixture is cooling, roughly chop pistachios. Place in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
- To mixing bowl, add oats, hemp seeds, dried blueberries, pumpkin seeds, and sea salt. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine.
- Pour almond butter-honey mixture into mixing bowl, and stir well to combine.
- Add dark chocolate chips to mixing bowl and fold in other ingredients. Avoid overmixing so chocolate chips don't melt completely.
- Pour granola bar mixture in baking dish, and sprinkle coarse sea salt on top to your liking.
- Cover mixture with a piece of parchment paper, then firmly press into the pan, making sure to push mixture to pan edges and to flatten until its evenly distributed.
- Chill bars in the fridge for two hours or the freezer for 20 minutes.
- Once chilled, remove granola from the baking dish by gently lifting up parchment paper. Place on cutting board and slice into 12 equal-sized homemade granola bars.
The homemade granola bars can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to three months.
Nutrition facts per bar: 243 calories, 13g fat, 3g saturated fat, 25g carbs, 4g fiber, 18g sugar, 7g protein
