Smart Sweet: The Best Granola Bar in the World

almonds coconut flakes, apple sauce, cinnamon, dates, dried apricots, granola bar, healthy snack, honey, maple syrup, oats, peanut butter, Smart Sweet, vanilla extract

By Jamin Mendelsohn

I recently purchased a dehydrator because I fell in love with kale and zucchini chips (stay tuned for the zucchini recipe) and wanted to make them myself. But, if I was going to allow this behemoth (dehydrators are not small, people!) take up the valuable real estate of my NYC-sized counter top, then I needed to find more uses for it. Hello Granola Bars.

So this past weekend I put a new challenge to the test: create the best granola bar in the world. And it worked out pretty well… at least I thought so and so did my friends here at Team Reboot. Hopefully you will, too!

It only takes a few easy steps and a few ingredients, many of which you probably already have on hand. Best of all, it leaves out all of the processed junk that you find in many granola bars in the grocery store.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups (375 g)rolled oats
3/4 cup (6 oz/175 ml) unsweetened applesauce
2 tbsp natural peanut butter
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/3 cup (50 g) chopped dried figs
1/3 cup (50 g) chopped dates
1/3 cup (50 g) chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup (15 g) coconut flakes
1/4 cup (22 g) slivered almonds

Directions

Combine oats with all wet ingredients and mix well.
Add dried fruits, nuts and cinnamon, mix well.
Form mixture into rectangle shape on dehydrator trays, or press into baking dish. (about 3/4 inch thick)
Dehydrate for 3.5 hrs at 115 F/46 C. OR bake at 350 F/177 C for 18-20 minutes. OR simply place tray in freezer for at least one hour to solidify.
Remove from tray and cut into bars.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes

Servings: 8-10 bars

Calories: 290

Fat: 7g

Trans Fat: 2.5g

Cholesterol: 0g

Sodium: 30mg

Carbohydrates: 50g

Fiber: 7g

Sugars: 22g

Protein: 7g