Homemade Granola Bites!

I've always been a huge fan of granola bars. They were often found packed in my school lunches while growing up, and were a favorite go-to snack when on the go. They're yummy, portable, and healthy .. Kinda ..

Sure, store-bought granola bars can have some nutritional goodness to them. We all know the health benefits of the oatmeal and whole grains they are made from. A huge downfall, however, is that they are absolutely loaded with processed sugars, which completely negates any of the health factors the granola bar presents. I mean, a handful of oatmeal isn't good for us when it's smothered in sugar, right? They're also full of fillers which aren't healthy or necessary.

And so .. I got to looking online for some at-home recipes to make myself. That way they are freshly made and I know what goes into them. Knowledge is power, right?!

A bunch of recipes I found either had too much sugar or required special ingredients that I didn't have in my pantry, so I had to mash together a few and tried it out - turns out my recipe was a winner!

Also, this recipe is quite small and doesn't make a big batch, so double (or triple) it if you'd like to have granola bars. Just one batch of this recipe made a delightful amount of granola bites, hence the name!

Recipe:

- 2 tbsp peanut butter (crunchy adds a nice texture!
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 C whole grain oats
- 1tsp ground (or whole) flax

Directions:

- Preheat the oven to 350F.

- Melt together the peanut butter and honey (stovetop or microwave, but caution - it doesn't take long!). Mix in the vanilla, cinnamon, oats and flax, and mix well (caution - the mixture is sticky!).

- Spread out onto a cookie sheet (sprayed down with cooking spray first!) and bake for 9 minutes. Divide into bites while still warm (or else they'll just crumble apart if you wait until they've cooled!). Cool down until they're nice and crunchy (yet still chewy!).

These nutritional bites are so perfectly yummy, not too sweet and not too crunchy - just perfect. Be sure to seal them in an airtime container or a plastic bag to ensure they don't dry out on you.

Feel free to experiment with different ingredients. When I'm stocked up on crushed almonds and raisins, I plan to make a new (bigger) batch! I also have almond butter than I plan to experiment with.

No fillers, no refined sugars, no junk ingredients - just a pure and simple granola bar (although, it's more an oat bar, isn't it?!). These, I am happy to give to my kids! Now if only Boy Lego liked peanut butter ..