Ah…..the granola bar. A staple in the pantry and in the lunch box, BUT, it has a *shudder* WRAPPER! What do you do? Every kids lunch box has had a granola bar in it at one time or another. And frankly, what mom doesn’t have granola bars stashed in their diaper bag, mega over-sized purse, pocket, beehive hair do, nightstand, and glove compartment! They are like magic! Like rabbits, they produce themselves at an alarming rate and when you think that the box is empty, there are still more in it! And they calm a kid whose hunger is to the point where they enunciate every syllable with a staccato in the in their voice, accompanied by a small body convulsion, “But I am SO hungry. I can’t wait until lunch!” Ah…….yes. The granola bar. Sometimes a mom’s best friend and weapon all in one!
But it isn’t litterless.
Over the past couple of years, I have tried to teach my kids that stuff does come from somewhere and it just doesn’t magically appear on store shelves. That someone, somewhere, at some point used to make all this stuff from scratch. WHAT! Yes, it did, including the granola bar! And guess what……I have a ooey gooey, super yummy recipe for those wonderful granola bars!
My resourceful and lovely friend Kelly shared a granola bar recipe with me and I made them and they were so delicious and we gobbled them up at an ungodly rate! And the great thing about them is that you can customize them to your family’s liking and even hide a few extras in there!
Before I share the recipe, I will let you know that the recipe does call for peanut butter, and here in Nova Scotia (and many other places too), schools are peanut free, if not completely nut free environments. RELAX, you can substitute the peanut butter for other butters. There are MANY products on the market that be substituted for peanut butter including sunflower seed butter, soy butter and my FAVORITE substitution, Safe 4 Schools WOWBUTTER! If you are looking for a substitution that most closely resembles peanut butter, I recommend WOWBUTTER! It really does taste almost exactly like peanut butter.
Where do I get these peanut butter substitutions? Take a look in your local grocery stores natural and organic section. They have a variety there. They are a bit more expensive, but in our home, we only use them for school lunches and use regular peanut butter at home. You could also check out your local natural food store, small independent grocers, and farmers markets.
The recipe is really quick and easy and here it is!
In a medium sized saucepan, combine:
1 cup of peanut butter (use your substitution here. You may prefer to use unsweetened as they can be pretty sweet but it is a personal preference.)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
2-3 TBSP coconut oil
I have never used coconut oil before and when I went to purchase it, I found it in the natural/organic section of my grocery store. It doesn't look like oil, but rather is in a semi-solid state, sort of like petroleum jelly.
Cook over medium/medium low heat to melt together.
Next add in dry ingredients.
2 cups oats
2 cups of any combination of yummy stuff (chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, coconut flakes, raisins, dry fruit, etc.) Anything your kids like and anything you can hide in there!
Press into a 9" x 13" pan and chill in fridge until well set.
After it is well set, cut into bars of your choice size.
To store, you can either wrap individually, or place into a larger container taking one out as you need them. You can freeze these bars as well!
Now you say, “Ok, I have made them and Joanna was right, they are super delicious. Now how do I get them into my kids lunch box?” Easy, you can either put them into a re-usable container, put them into a re-usable homemade sandwich bag (AHEM – shameless plug for a previous post!), or you can wrap them in a piece of parchment paper. YES! Parchment paper is completely biodegradable and fully compostable. (And yes, I did check with HRM Waste Management to be sure before posting this!)
So go out and get the ingredients and make them! Like right now! Really, GO! Stop reading this blog and scoot!
Joanna
just fyi for those of you who want to use natural ingredients but dont want to splurge on coconut oil you can use REAL butter, I have run out of coconut oil and used butter with no trouble. I prefer to use coconut oil because of all the health benefits of coconut oil!
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