Chocolate Chip "Granola" Bars

I'll get straight to the recipe, these are delicious!

They are gluten free when made with "gluten free" oats/oat bran.

You will need:

3 large bananas mashed (preferably ripe bananas)
1.5 c Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oat Bran
1/2 c old fashioned rolled oats (gluten free)- i use Trader Joe's
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon (whichever flavor you like - I prefer cinnamon)
1/2 c pepitas
1/2 c sunflower seeds
3/4 c chocolate chips (to be vegan use "Enjoy Life" chips)

Mash bananas together in large mixing bowl until smooth. Stir in vanilla.
Mix in rest of ingredients until combined.

Spray 9x13 pan with pan spray and press mix into pan evenly.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Cool on counter or in fridge and once cooled cut into "granola bar" slices.

These are really awesome and easy to make. And pretty healthy to boot!

Homemade Granola Bars

These 'granola' bars are so. freakin. good.

These are inspired by the Paleo Mom Chewy Granola Bars. I have changed some ingredients to accommodate an almond-free diet. I actually think these turn out better using peanut butter since there is more oil in PB than almond butter to hold them all together.  Also these are *technically* not granola bars, more 'nut bars'.

I recently made these without coconut flakes and coconut oil adding cranberries and golden raisins instead and they were super delish. So, if you have a coconut allergy, these will still work. Nut allergy? Erm, not so much - but you can check these out and be just as satisfied.

This recipe is adapted from the Paleo Mom. She has great paleo recipes that are fairly easy to make and are really delicious.

Recipe: Makes 12-15 bars depending on how you want to cut them:

1/3 pepitas - roasted and salted(shelled pumpkin seeds - I found these in the bulk section at a specialty grocer) pulsed
1/3 c sunflower seeds - roasted and salted
1 1/2 c walnuts - chopped
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 c garbanzo bean flour (trust)
1 tbsp ground flax seed + 1 1/2 tbsp water (mix and set aside to make a "flax goop")
1/3 c coconut oil (coconut free use red palm oil) melted
1/4 c peanut butter
1/4 c honey
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 c Enjoy Life chocolate chips
2 c coconut flakes (coconut free use 1 c dried cranberries, 1 c golden raisins - or any dried fruit you prefer chopped up)

Preheat the oven to 325.

Mix together flax seed and water  in small bowl and set aside to make a "flax goop"
Pulse pepitas in food processor or magic bullet a few times to break them up, set aside - if you don't have a processor or magic bullet, just use a knife and

In a large bowl, whisk together peanut butter, flax goop, coconut or palm oil, and honey.
Add garbanzo bean flour and baking soda and mix into paste.

Add in the nuts, coconut (or dried fruit), seeds, chocolate chips and stir together. I use a wooden spoon and use some arm work with this - make sure you mix very very well.

I buy the aluminum 9x13 pans  at the grocery store to put these in, but you can use your own 9x13. You will want to spray non-stick spray into pan first, then spread evenly. I use a piece of parchment paper and use my hands to press down on the mixture to make it stick together and flatten.

You will bake these for 22 minutes. After you get out of the oven, let cool on stovetop or in fridge. They will harden better in the fridge and make it easier to cut into bars.

Try not to eat all of them at once. These are killer.