Homemade Chocolate Chip Granola Bars with Chia Seeds
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It’s a challenge sometimes to provide snacks for my kids that are healthier than the average, overly processed, dye filled snacks. In an effort to keep it real, I make Homemade Chocolate Chip Granola Bars with Chia Seeds for extra protein. Well, actually one of my boys makes them usually. They are simple and you can vary the ingredients to suit your needs and taste.
These are sweetened with chocolate chips and/or honey, but you can of course alter this to suit your needs. I will make them without chocolate chips and add raisins or dried cranberries (sugar has been added to the dried cranberries when they were processed of course, so be aware of that). That is definitely enough sweetness, but honey helps to hold the mixture together and add a little bit of its own raw goodness.
The Chia seeds, of course, add extra nutrients and are packed with vegetable protein. These, combined with rolled or steel cut oats and peanut butter add a great snack or even breakfast. I either keep mine in a covered dish (pre-cut so the kids don’t maul it trying to cut it up), or I cut and wrap them individually in parchment paper for use on the go.
This really only takes a few minutes to prepare since there is no baking involved, making it a quick on the go option.
Enjoy! 🙂
- 2 cups rolled or cut oats
- 1 cup real peanut butter (no added sugar)
- ⅓ cup honey
- ¼ cup coconut oil (melted)
- 1-1/2 Tbsp chia seeds
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup raisins
- ½ cup sunflower seeds
- Combine ingredients. If your house is very cool you may want to consider placing honey and peanut butter in a saucepan to slightly melt, but this is not required.
- Make sure your ingredients are wet enough, but not too wet. You want it to be wet enough to stick together, but not fall apart. Too crumbly from the start will result in very crumbly bars. Too wet will result in goopy bars. Adjust with extra peanut butter or oats as needed.
- Press hard with your fingers or the back of a spoon into a 8in x 8in dish that has been greased with coconut oil.
- Enjoy!
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