Granola Bars

*But first, a note about Brown Rice Syrup.

Brown Rice Syrup is one of the OGs of health food cooking. I first discovered it’s versatility in Culinary School where we absolutely hated measuring it because it would stick to every surface with vigor. I don’t measure it now I pour it straight from the jar and I encourage you to do the same. Mildly sweet with a great binding property, it’s an ingredient that flies under the radar. So under the radar that Whole Foods has stopped carrying it (ugh) so now I must order it from iHerb. It’s a specialty item I use a lot in baking, and if you don’t have it I don’t blame you, you can substitute light corn syrup instead.

Here’s the makeup of dried fruit I used from my pantry, but you can use any mix you have around. It’s hard to go overboard with how much fruit your using so be generous.

Equipment:

Food Processor

Parchment Paper

9x13 baking pan or quarter sheet tray

1.5 Cup Dates

1.5 Cup Dried Apricots

1/2 Cup Dried Cherries

Handful of figs

1.5 Cups Old fashioned Rolled Oats

1 Cup raw Cashews

1 Cup Coconut Oil, softened

2/3 Cup Brown Rice Syrup (or Corn syrup)

2/3 Cup Almond Flour

1/4 Cup Ground Flax Seed

1/3 Cup Hemp Seeds

1/3 Cup Cacao Nibs

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar, Honey or Maple Syrup

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 tsp salt

Basically, we’re going to pulse the ingredients in three stages. If you have a smaller food processor like I do because I found mine on the sidewalk in a free giveaway and can’t fit all of these ingredients, you can do this stage in a mixing bowl and mix by hand.

Oh right don’t forget to preheat the oven to 300

Add Dates, Apricots, and Figs to the food processor and pulse for about 30 seconds until broken up into smaller pieces. Add Cashews, cherries and half the oats and pulse again for 10-15 seconds until incorporated and crushed but not pulverized. Then, add the rest of the ingredients and rest of oats and pulse until the coconut oil is distributed and everything looks a little sticky and moist.

Pour into the parchment lined baking vessel and tamp down with a spatula. Bake for 40 minutes. Once cool, turn the pan over and slam the mono-bar onto the counter for slicing into rectangles. These will last a month or so. If it’s hot maybe I’d refrigerate them.