No Bake Granola Bars
Naturally sweetened with dates and honey and packed with (pea)nut buttery goodness, these are sure to become your go-to granola bar. Use any kind of nut butter and personalize these by adding any extras you’re craving. These No Bake Granola Bars are a healthy, natural snack that both parents and kids will love.
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
Base of granola bars
- 2 cups oats
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 2 heaping cups pitted dates (I use deglet noor; see note below)
- 1 cup nut butter (I use peanut butter)
- 1/2 cup honey
Optional add-in ideas
- chopped nuts, unsweetened coconut flakes, raisins, craisins, other dried fruit, chocolate chips, etc. (you can add up to ¾ cup of mix and match extras without compromising the firmness of the bars)
- cinnamon, cacao powder, cocoa powder, etc.
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl combine oats, salt and optional add-ins of choice.
- With the metal blade fitted, place dates in the food processor and let the machine run until dates form a ball (see picture in post). If your machine is having trouble running (this happens sometimes if the dates are particularly hard), feed the dates through the feeding tube little by little. Be patient; in my processor this takes a little under a minute and a half. Transfer the ball of dates to the mixing bowl with the oats, scraping any extra date paste off the side of the work bowl with a spatula.
- In a small saucepan, gently heat honey and nut butter of choice over meduim low heat until warm (about 2 mintues). Add to mixing bowl. Mash and mix all ingredients until well combined (I start by using a fork and then once it is combined, I finish the job with a potato masher; you could also use your hands).
- Line a 9.5 X 13 pan with parchment paper (so the bars lift out easily). Transfer mixture to pan and using a fork (or potato masher, heavy bottomed glass, your hands etc.) spread it out, packing down tightly (this is important so that they don’t fall apart), until you have a uniform thickness (mine are usually a little under a ½ inch thick). The mixture may not reach all the edges of the pan; if this is the case just form smooth edges with a fork.
- Cover and place in the freezer to set for 20 minutes. Cut in 15 bars. Store in the fridge in an airtight container with parchment paper in between bars to prevent sticking. These can also be frozen.
Notes
- If you want a little less peanut buttery bar, add an extra ½ cup of oats. Since they won’t stick together as well, especially at the edges, place in the freezer for 20 minutes and then at least 1 hour in the fridge before cutting into bars giving them a bit more time to set.
- If for some reason yours fall apart (like my friend’s did since she eyeballed her ingredients), just enjoy it as granola. I promise it will still be yummy.
- You should be able to find pitted dates in your local supermarket where they sell other dried fruits (raisins, apricots, etc.). They also sell them in bulk at my local Costco.
- Since you are dealing with sticky ingredients, soak the food processor pieces and saucepan in hot water with some dish soap immediately. It will make scrubbing them a lot easier when you finally get to it.