These healthy granola bars are far from your average. They are reminiscent of a childhood classic – PB&J. We’ve upgraded our youthful counterpart with vegan raspberry jam and almond butter. I also really love using any nut butter here – just make sure it’s the runny kind. You can also go wild with your jams – blackberry and blueberry would be suited too.
Ingredients:
For the base:
- 1 cup of puffed quinoa (trust me on this, it forms such a solid base and is damn tasty)
- 1 cup of gluten free rolled oats
- 1 cup of coconut oil – the flavoured kind
- 2 tablepsoons of maple syrup
- A splash of vanilla essence
- A pinch of salt
- 2 tablepsoons of coconut flour
For the raspberry chia jam:
- Two cups of frozen raspberries
- 2 tablespoons of chia seeds
- A squeeze of half a lemon
- 2 tablespoons of maple syrup
For the nut butter layer:
- Go wild here – use a fork to drizzle your favourite nut butter ( I particularly like the Pip & Nut Almond Butter and the Planet Organic ABC Butter (use my code MORGAN15) to get 15% off your order!)
- Add your favourite crunchy topping – I went for roasted sesame seeds but you could use pumpkin seeds, chopped almonds or even a drizzle of dark chocolate
Method:
Set your oven to 200ºC and line a brownie tray with parchment paper. Make sure the parchment paper goes over the edges so you can lift the bars out of the tray once finished.
In a large bowl, add your base ingredients. Make sure everything is well-combined and then transfer to your lined brownie tray. Using the back of a spatula, pat down the mixture to make sure the entire base is covered.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven, and set aside to cool. Once cooled, sprinkle a layer of coconut flour on top and then pop in the fridge for 2-3 hours to solidify.
While the base is cooling, make your raspberry jam. On medium-high heat, melt your raspberries with your lemon juice and maple syrup. Once the fruit is looking melted and gooey, add your chia seeds and stir continuously until you get a thick, jam-like consistency. Set aside to cool.
Once your jam has cooled, remove your base from the fridge and layer the base with your jam making sure you get into all the edges. Once layered, pop back in the fridge for 2-3 hours to solidify.
Once solid, drizzle on your nut butter along with whatever crunchy topping you fancy. Pop in the freezer to set. Once set, cut into bars and store in the fridge for a quick and balanced on the go snack.
Looking for tasty, simple granola? Have a look at my quick high protein chickpea granola.
