New Year, New Granola Bars

Happy New Year to everyone!  Hope you all had a great 2012, I know I did!  New apartment, new school, new blog, new job, quit new job, lots of new recipes & my most favorite part is the shiny little something sitting pretty on my finger 🙂 .  Now how is 2013 going to top that?  I’m not sure but I do know I’m starting with a new granola bar recipe.

I much prefer a chewy, denser granola bar minus the sugar, soy and other strange ingredients that comes in most store bought. Oh and gluten free at a non-gluten free price. So after you try scouring the stores for something fitting this description you can come back here and make these because they are good and healthy. I plan to only eat one once they come out of the oven and put the rest in the freezer for crazy school days which are approaching fast.

Oh & how cute is this jar of honey?  The only added sweetness is 1 tbsp honey drizzled over the bars when they are finished baking.

Now although I quit counting calories, carbs and all other things numbers a long time ago, when it comes to bars I always read the ingredients list and make sure it’s not just like eating a candy bar.  So I have provided the “counts” below, but really if you eat healthy & understand what a portion size is I encourage you to not rigorously count & make yourself crazy, it’s quite liberating.  And while I’m sure many of you have wonderful health resolutions, try to  focus on the fact that you can have an abundance of fruits and vegetables without consequences.

Original recipe by Kathy.

Ingredients:

-1.5 cups GF rolled oats

– 2 tbsp sunflower seeds

– 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

– 2 tbsp chia seeds

– 3 tbsp cacao nibs

– 1/4 cup mixture walnuts and pecans

– 1 egg

– 1 & 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

– 1 tbsp cinnamon (yes 1 tbsp)

– 1 tsp vanilla extract

– 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

*optional, drizzle 1 tbsp honey when pull out of the oven

(I prefer no fruit to avoid too much food combining and blood sugar spikes.)

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350, mix dry and wet separate, combine, bake 30-40 minutes, & eat!

Makes 9 Servings

Calories: 161

Fat: 3.2g Saturated, 3.1g PUFA, 1.4g MUFA

Carbs: 12.9g

Fiber: 4g

Sugar: 0.8g

Protein: 5g

These bars are high in manganese, vitamin E, copper & magnesium with smaller amounts of zinc, iron & calcium. These minerals work to boost your thyroid, immunity, stabalize blood sugar, red blood cell production and the list goes on & on. So grab a bowl and start mixing to fuel up for the new year!

Cinnamon Scented Chia, Flax and Sunflower Seed Granola

Before we dive into crunch heaven, just a fun little note for those who saw my Super Sneaky Basil Pesto.  Boyfriend called right after I posted that and said he had no idea he ate this pesto on his pasta last week . SCORE!!- and he is not tough to fool.  I encourage you to try for your own fellow skeptics 😉

Ok so lets talk subtly sweet, crunchy & nutty Granola.

Granola has always been something that I have avoided because it is usually filled with sugar, fat and lots of calories.  Surprising to some who see it has a health food.  So with my recent new love of oats I decided I need to make some- it is about as difficult as turning your oven on and dumping oats onto a pan.  I absolutely love crunchy things, probably to a fault.  Smoothies, yogurt and even fro-yo need something crunchy in them, enter Granola

I  consider myself to be part “Granola Cruncher”  part “Girlie Girl” part I don’t give a $#!T Girl plus a few more.  A wild jumbled mess- like my jar of delicious cinnamon granola.  It was hard not to just eat this by the spoonful (which I only did like 2, 3, 4 times). From the crunch, to the warmth of cinnamon and don’t forget those nutty sunflower seeds, this granola is the perfect topping for just about anything. It is a shame it took me this long to finally make granola, but now I know it is something that my pantry (and my yogurt) can’t live without. Oh and there might be some sprinkled coconut for good measure. But feel free to add some dark chocolate or other favorites into the crunchy party.

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats

1-2 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp coconut sugar (extremely low on glycemic index)

1 tbsp sugar free maple syrup

2 tbsp flax seed

1 heaping tbsp chia seed (or more)

1/2 cup sunflower seeds- (mine were roasted already)

1 tbsp coconut

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Mix first 6 ingredients.  Lay on tin foiled baking sheet.  Bake for 15-20 minutes turning a few times to make sure it doesn’t burn.  Once it is crisped to your liking add the sunflower seeds if they are already roasted and add coconut.  That’s it!  Top your favorite smoothies, yogurt or desserts with this delcious and easy granola.

*I purposely kept this very low sugar to keep it a healthy snack and something to help  stabilize blood sugar.  Feel free to add brown sugar, dried fruits or other sweetners but then re-evaulate calories.

Calories serving 5 people (1/2 cup per person—usually is 1/4 cup!)

222 kcal

25 g carbs

11 g fat

9 g protein