Easy, Portable & Nutritious | Healthy Granola Bars

For me, Summer time isn't complete without at least one great adventure. Whether it be camping, going on a quick mountain hike, or taking a long road trip, summer and exploration go hand in hand. But one thing people often forget about adventure, is that it needs a little bit of premeditation to happen. Ensuring that you're prepared is essential to any successful escapade and key to the happiness of everyone involved. And perhaps the most important step in planning, is making sure you are fully stocked with snacks! An easy, portable, and nutritious snack to make ahead, is everyone's old friend, the granola bar. While store bought varieties often contain soy, corn, hydrogenated oils, and questionable ingredients you'd probably prefer not to eat, you can quickly whip up a version with whatever odds and ends you having laying around your pantry. I used up bits and pieces of dried fruits and nuts that would otherwise be headed to oatmeal. Yet, if you prefer, you can get creative here. Lets take a look at a few options:

Tropical  |  made with macadamia butter, coconut, mango, and ginger.

Banana Split   |  with peanut butter, chocolate chips, and dried bananas and cherries.

Apple Pie   |  with almond butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins and dried apples.

Superfood   |  cashew and pumpkin seed butters with goji berries, dried blueberries, and chia.

Halva   |  almond butter, tahini, sesame seeds, and chocolate chunks.

Whatever Goes Granola Bar

1/2 Cup Nut Butter

1 Cup Brown Rice Syrup

1 tsp. Vanilla (and/or spice, like cinnamon)

1 1/2 Cups Mixed Dried Fruit, Coconut, Seeds, chocolate, and Nuts (if adding chia or ground flax, only add abut 2 Tbsp)

2 Cups Rolled Oats

2 Cups Puffed Rice

1/2 tsp salt (less or none if using salted nut butter)

1. Begin by mixing the puffed rice, spices, the oats, the salt, and seeds, along with the fruit (if you use chocolate, add last, as it will melt) in a bowl, mixing well.

2. Heat the nut butter and brown rice syrup in a pot just until it begins to get bubbly and become runny. Add the vanilla, and pour into the dry ingredients, and mix until combined. You may want to use your hands once the mixture cools a bit. If you opted for chocolate, add it at this point.

3. Firmly press the mixture into a lined 8 inch square pan. You may want to spray you hands with cooking oil, to help the mix from sticking to them. Place the bar to set in the fridge for a couple of hours, until firm. Once set, remove the bar from the pan, cut into 10 pieces and wrap in Abeego. Its best not to store the bars in the fridge as they will get soft from the humidity.

Get to know Sophie:

Sophie MacKenzie is a food enthusiast through and through. When she isn't busy , she can be found creating and photographing original recipes for her wholefoods blog, Whole Hearted Eats. Her recipes have been featured on BuzzFeed, Boston Magazine, The Daily Good, as well as being named one of the 25 best food Instagram accounts by Daily Burn. During the rare moments she isn't jumping on tables photographing her meals, she enjoys gardening, watching bad action films, and sprouting anything she can get her hands on. 

Learn more from Sophie. Check out Wholehearted Eats.