- 16
Ingredients
- bars:
- 3 way-way ripe, regulation-sized bananas, peeled
- 3 tbsp almond butter (any nut or seed butter you love will do)
- 1/4 cup brown rice syrup
- 1-2 tbsp maple syrup (optional!)
- 1 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil + extra for greasing the pan
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 3 cups rolled oats (make sure they’re certified GF if need be)
- 1 1/4 cup chopped nuts + seeds (I used toasted hazelnuts, raw walnuts + black sesame seeds)
- 1/4-1/2 cup chopped dried fruit/dairy-free chocolate chips/cacao nibs (I went with chippers + cacao nibs)
- chocolate drizzle:
- 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
- splash of almond milk
- 1 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8×11″ or an 8×12″ pan with coconut oil. Lay a piece of parchment into the pan (with overhang on the sides) and grease that with more coconut oil. Set aside.
In a blender or food processor, combine the bananas, almond butter, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, coconut oil, cinnamon and sea salt. Pulse or blend until a homogenous and creamy mixture is achieved. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the oats, chopped nuts, seeds, chocolate chips etc. Stir to mix. Add the creamy banana mixture and stir until thoroughly combined. Scrape the granola bar mix into the prepared pan. Smooth the mix out, pressing down with a flat surface (measuring cup, spatula) until the mix has evenly filled the pan. Bake the bars for 40 minutes or until golden on the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool thoroughly on a rack.
Once cool, lift the bars out of the pan with the overhanging parchment onto a cutting board. Cut the slab right down the middle lengthwise. From here, cut the two halves into 8 bars each.
In a double boiler/non-reactive pan set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, combine the chocolate drizzle ingredients. Stir constantly with a spatula until chocolate is melted and a sauce forms. Drizzle over the cut granola bars. Refrigerate bars until chocolate is solidified, about 30 minutes. Keep the bars in a sealed container for about a week.
notes: In retrospect, my bananas could have been riper–just sayin’. Also, I blend the bananas up with all of the other liquid components for MAXIMUM integration. Totally an optional step. You could just mash them up real nice and whisk the other wet ingredients in for simplicity. Also, I find whole nuts make for harder-to-cut finished bars. Chop ‘em small-ish.