It seems that the more whole grains we eat, the more I crave them.  Especially Oats.  Even in the summer we have oatmeal for breakfast at least two days per week.  My new favorite is the raw, overnight variety with yogurt and chia seeds that makes the mixture more like a pudding. Beyond breakfast, the best way to get good oats is through snack or granola bars.  The store bought ones almost always have too much sugar – or taste over processed with additives.  I have a jar of Apple Cider syrup that I boiled down last winter that I have not used up.  So, I searched for a simple recipe and came upon a good recipe from one of my favorite Blogs, The Minimalist Baker.  Her recipe is very simple with just 5 ingredients.  I played with it a little bit and really just added a sprinkle of flax meal to her basic recipe.

the ingredients to bind the granola bars together – apple cider syrup, dates and almond butter

Just a note about the apple cider syrup.  I had a gallon of cider that was beginning to “turn” last winter.  So, I looked up a recipe and found that it was quite easy to slowly boil it down into a syrup.  It’s a delightfully sweet, natural tasting syrup that holds up very well in the refrigerator.  I’ve used it in place of sugar or syrup in recipes – or drizzled it on toast.

melt the almond butter and apple syrup together to help bind all of the ingredients

toasted oats and almonds taste great!

One of the tricks is making sure the dates are plenty moist so that they will bind all of the other ingredients together to form a solid bar. I also prefer almond butter instead of peanut butter – but either can be used, or a combination of both. Toasting the oats really does add a nice nutty flavor to these raw bars.  I like the slivered almonds rather than whole ones – it makes them easier to chew.

process the dates until they make a paste, or ball of sticky goodness

hand mix – or use a stand mixer for easiest blending of all ingredients

use waxed paper or parchment paper to press the mixture into the pan so it forms an even layer of sticky goodness!

no bake granola bars

Makes 10 to 12 bars
preparation time about 20 minutes, plus chilling time of about 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup packed dates, pitted (soaked in warm water if too dry and not very sticky)
1/4 cup honey, maple syrup, agave or cider syrup
1/4 cup almond butter or creamy salted natural peanut butter

1 cup slivered, toasted almonds
1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 TBS Flax meal

Instructions

Process dates in a food processor until small bits remain (about 1 minute). It should form a dough ball or clump.
Toast oats and almonds in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until slightly golden brown.

Place oats, almonds and dates in bowl of stand mixer. You may want to break up date clumps a little bit.

Sprinkle Flax Meal on top of oats, almonds and dates.
Warm honey (or syrup) and peanut butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir and pour over oat mixture.

Blend mixture on low to medium speed.
Once thoroughly mixed, transfer to an 8×8 dish or other small pan lined with plastic wrap or parchment paper so they lift out easily.
Press down until uniformly flattened. Cover with parchment or plastic wrap, and let set in fridge or freezer for 15-20 minutes to harden.
Lift bars from pan with parchment and cut into 10 even bars. Store in an airtight container for up to a few days, preferably refrigerated to maintain freshness.

Notes

Recipe adapted from the Minimalist Baker’s 5 Ingredient Granola Bar blog.