Crispy Healthy Granola Bars

My family sometimes loves to substitute their regular breakfast with a rich nutrition bar and a cup of milk. I didn’t mind so much ….until today….I just went through the ingredients ….and whoa!! I was in for a BIG surprise…..HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL? Really?

Hmmffffff…….there goes another of my easy quick fix for a late morning when we have to rush to work.

So? I made some of my own. After getting back from work, I tried this out….and it turned out yummier and definitely a lot healthier.

Need

Pitted and ground dates – 1 ½ cups

Broken oats flakes – 1 cup ---- ROASTED (you’ll love the nutty flavor)

Corn flakes – ¾ cup ----- crumble between palms

Milk – 1 ½ cup

Chopped roasted nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashew, sunflower seeds, sesame, you pick J ) – ¾ cup

Dried cranberries (you can use any kind of raisins) – ¼ cup

Cinnamon ground – 1 ½ tsp

Balck pepper ground – 1 ½ tsp

Salt – ¼ tsp

Oil – just enough to grease the baking sheet

Optional add-ons – chocolate chips, fruit candies

The super easy process

1.    Take the date and milk in a saucepan and simmer until the mix forms a smooth somewhat runny paste

2.    Take off flame and add all the rest of the ingredients and mix

3.    Line a baking tray with foil or baking sheet and grease the sheet with oil / butter. Spread the mixture over the sheet. You can make it smooth and square in order to get neat bars. I leave it messy….as long as I have smoothened the paste on top. Saves me time J

4.    Bake in preheated oven at 400 degree F for 5 minutes, then at 100 degree F for 1 hour.

5.    Cut the bars and cool. Store in an air tight container.

I made 40 mini bars in this batch. This would average to a max of 30 calories per bar. J Hurray!!