Cranberry Coconut Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Guess what? I finally came up with a granola bar recipe that 1) stays together  and 2) tastes good. You guys, this was a hard task! You’d think that a granola bar recipe would be easy peasy to come up with, but yeah, not so much. The process involved a lot of experiments and quite a few granola bar turned granola cereal adventures. Not a bad thing considering Isaac and I both like granola. Let’s just say that the snack monster in me was loving it… probably a little too much.

I knew this batch was a winner as soon as I was able to cut them into bars without having them fall apart. Then I tried a bite  — the combo of toasted coconut, dried cranberries and chocolate is simply delightful. They have the perfect amount of chewiness and a bit of crunch from the brown rice cereal. I’m a big fan!

The sunflower seed butter keeps the bars from getting too dry and also helps them stay together. You could certainly experiment with using a different nut butter in place of the sunflower seed butter. I choose it because I like the flavor but it also keeps the bars nut-free. Most schools (including Isaac’s) are nut-free (or at least peanut-free) and I wanted Isaac to be able to take these bars to work as a snack.

Kids will love these bars because they have a bit of sweetness and us adults will love them because they’re healthy, homemade and include only 10 ingredients.

Winner winner, perfect to snack on before dinner! 🙂

No more processed granola bars, peeps. These bars are super easy to toss together and they taste way better than bars out of a box. Plus, there’s a pinch of love involved with homemade treats and I think that counts for a little something too.

How you store the bars is up to you. You can leave them out in a sealed container if you like softer, chewy granola bars but I’ve been storing ours in the freezer — they keep longer and I like the harder texture.  Enjoy!

Cranberry Coconut Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

• Author: Brittany Mullins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 25 mins
• Yield: 6

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Ingredients

• 1 cup old-fashioned oats*
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup crispy brown rice cereal
• 1 Tablespoon dried cranberries
• 2 Tablespoons mini chocolate chips (divided)*
• 1 large very ripe banana
• 2 Tablespoons sunflower seed butter
• 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• pinch of sea salt

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Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
2. Toast your oats and coconut: Spread oats and coconut flakes on a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake until just golden brown, about 10 minutes. Let cool slightly.
3. Line a baking pan or stone with a long sheet of parchment paper.
4. In a large bowl, stir together cooled toasted oats and coconut, cereal, cranberries, and 1 Tablespoon of chocolate chips.
5. In a mini food processor or blender, pulse together banana, sunflower butter, maple syrup, vanilla and salt until evenly blended.
6. Stir banana mixture into oat/coconut mixture until combined. Spread mixture on the prepared baking pan with parchment, pressing down into a rectangular shape. Press the mixture lightly with your hands or a rubber spatula to flatten, then sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips over top. Again, use your hands or the spatula to press the chips into place and compact the mixture into the pan as much as possible.
7. Bake at for 12-15 minutes or until bars are golden brown. Cut into 6 bars before they have a chance to really harden up then let the bars cool completely before transferring to an airtight container for storage.

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Notes

*Be sure to use gluten-free oats and dairy-free chocolate chips if you want these bars to be gluten and dairy-free.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 bar
• Calories: 181
• Sugar: 9g
• Fat: 8g
• Carbohydrates: 24g
• Fiber: 3g
• Protein: 3g