Hi everyone, Tori here from Fraiche Nutrition. With back to school officially here, I thought I would share a healthy granola bar recipe (these ones are also vegan) that kids love but more importantly that they’re allowed to bring to school. With all of the different food allergies out there these days you’d be surprised about what the kids are and aren’t allowed to pack in their lunch kits. So, I came up with these chocolate cherry oat bars that Charlie loooooves!!! The chocolate mixed with the tart cherries is the perfect kick for your sweet tooth. Oh and you can pack these in your bag too and you won’t feel guilty about a healthy indulgence … these ones DEFINITELY aren’t just for the kids (but they’re kid friendly)!
Back To School Chocolate Cherry Granola Bars
Ingredients
3/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup agave syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp sea salt
1.5 cup large flake rolled oats
3/4 cup cup oat flour
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup unsweetened large flaked (ribbon) coconut
1 cup dried sour cherries
1/2 cup hemp seeds
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided (or vegan chocolate chips)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 9×13” baking pan with parchment paper, leaving some paper sticking out of the sides so that you can easily remove the bars from the pan once cooked (you can grease the pan before lining it with parchment to help it stick).
- In a small saucepan, combine the coconut oil, honey, agave syrup and brown sugar. Cook on low heat until the coconut oil is melted, stirring well to help dissolve the brown sugar. Add the vanilla and set aside.
- In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Add the coconut oil mixture and mix well. Fold in 1/3 of the chocolate chips.
- Pat the mixture into the prepared pan with your hands: you want to make sure that it is firmly pressed to ensure that the bars will stick together.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and completely cool and press the bars down again before taking the bars out of the pan (this can easily be done by lifting the parchment sides).
- Melt the remaining 1/3 cup of chocolate in the microwave (at 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until completely melted). Drizzle the chocolate over the bars and cool. Cut into bars with a large sharp knife.
Do you have other healthy recipes that you’d like to see? Let me know in the comments below!
xo
Tori
I’m not going back to school, but these look perfect for work! I am going to have to give this recipe a try 🙂
As the auntie of a tree nut alergy sufferer let me just say this “YAY!”
Also I have a peanut alergy so I may have to try these out
Can I use fresh cherries instead of dried?