Festive No-Bake Granola Bars
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas and I've had lots of fun creating these delicious gluten-free, no-bake vegan granola bars. They are so simple to make and they taste absolutely incredible! The base of the mix can be tweaked and added to with various ingredients; nuts, spices, seeds etc. The granola bar world is your oyster!
Nourishing our bodies with wholesome, fibre-rich foods is such an important part of helping us to feel well & healthy & when using ingredients in their raw state, we can really unlock their potency.
Shopping list: Gluten free oats, dates, walnuts, goji berries, cranberries, coconut shavings, peanut butter, date syrup, coconut oil, ground cinnamon
Method: Preheat oven to 150. Mix 4 x cups of oats with 1 x cup of chopped walnuts and toast until lightly golden.
In a separate pan, heat-through half a cup of peanut butter, half a cup of date syrup & quarter of a cup of coconut oil.
Food process dates until broken-up (mine formed a ball) and you can soak in hot water first if they're a bit hard. Mix all of these ingredients together until the dates are evenly distributed.
Add half a cup each of goji berries & cranberries to the mixture and combine.
I used a 22cm by 22cm square tin lined with cling film. Put all of the mixture in the tin making sure to press it in well with a cup or spoon (this will help it to set). Place in fridge or freezer for at least half an hour ready for cutting.
I cut my slab into 8 slices (5.5cm by 21cm). These are quite big so you could cut in half again to make some granola squares!
Keep in an air-tight container for up to 1 week.
Top tips:
Toasted oats taste much nicer than raw oats so a quick 15 minute blast in the oven will bring-out the nutty flavour
Date syrup can be substituted for anything sweet & low-gi (coconut nectar, maple syrup etc)
Remove granola slab from chiller at least 20 minutes before needing to cut (so that it's not rock-solid!)
Put on pj's, grab your hot water bottle, chuck on some Friends and enjoy!
Tie with twine, place in a glass jar and give to your loved-ones this Christmas!
I hope you like the recipe!
All my festive love,
Holly xxx