(Vegan, GF, Dairy Free)
This recipe is from Veronica of Leaves + Littles. If you have a second, go explore her blog- it's got lots of lovely recipes and musings.
To make bars:
1 c. rolled oats, 1/2 c. ground into a coarse oat flour
1/2 c. whole raw almonds, 1/4 c. ground into a coarse meal
1 Tbsp flax seeds
1 Tbsp chia seeds
1/4 c. honey
1/8 c. maple syrup
1/8 c. coconut oil, melted
1/4 c. almond butter
1/4 c. shredded coconut, plus 1-2 Tbsp for topping
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. of fine sea salt (optional)
To make chocolate:
1/4 c. coconut oil, melted
1/2 c. cocoa powder
3-4 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. of salt (optional)
Place 1/2 c. of the oats and 1/4 c. of the almonds, along with chia and flax seeds into a food
processor and grind until it resembles coarse flour. Pour that into a medium-large bowl. Then
take the remaining oats and almonds and process until coarsely chopped. Add that along with all
the other ingredients to the bowl, reserving about 1-2 Tbsp of coconut shreds for topping. Stir
until well combined and the mixture resembles a soft granola bar consistency - or similar to
cookie dough. Press the mixture into a parchment lined 8 x 8 square pan.
Combine all the chocolate ingredients and pour about half the chocolate evenly over the granola
bars to form a layer. Place in the freezer for about 10 min, until the chocolate is fairly hardened.
Lift the bars out of the pan and slice into about 2 in. wide x 4 in. long bars. Leave it on the
parchment and place chocolate side down. Drizzle with the remaining chocolate, sprinkle with
remaining shredded coconut and freeze again for about 5-10 minutes - or until you can't wait
anymore and want to eat one, or two. These keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container for
about 5 days. If you don't have time to make the chocolate, just add mini dairy-free chocolate
chips. It would be fun to form these into little granola ball bites as well - which you could coat in
chocolate or add the mini chocolate chips.
*Tip: Place the bowl of chocolate in another slightly larger bowl filled with hot water to help
prevent the chocolate from cooling and hardening while you’re working with it.