I’m already starting to think about how I will fuel myself (quickly) after the little bambino arrives this fall. I’m not one who functions well with long periods between meals, so planning in advance is going to be my best ally. The healthier and more balanced, the better I‘m sure I’ll feel. Bring on the healthy, hippie foods, I say! In addition to freezer friendly meals – like veggie burgers and balls, chili, soup, falafel, enchiladas, pasta + pesto sauces, burritos, etc. – I hope to prepare snacks in advance that I can individually wrap and store in the freezer. Things that I can toss into my purse or quickly unwrap when I need a boost will be so handy. Amidst uncertainty, it always feels good to have a back up plan (even if my reality will be take out food more than not).
These lightly-sweet granola bars are a great option because they are only sweetened with bananas and sweetened dried fruit. No sugar crashes here! You could even remove the dried fruit if you really wanted to, but I love how the dried cherries provide a pop of sweetness throughout. But it’s not what the bars don’t have – it’s what they do have. How about hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, rolled oats, almonds, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, banana, and more. These wholesome bars are crunchy, hearty, and chewy in the best way possible. And super filling thanks to the balance of protein, fibre, carbs, and healthy fats. One bar clocks in at 6.6 grams of protein and almost 5 grams of fibre (you can see the complete nutritional info in the recipe below). If you wanted to boost the protein even more, you can increase the hemp seeds (and maybe reduce the sunflower seeds a bit).
For even more staying power, try spreading on some nut or seed butter (with chia seed jam to make it a party!) or even a bit of coconut oil. That’s never a bad idea. Is it snack time yet?
Feel Good Hearty Granola Bars
Yield
14-16 large bars
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Hearty, soft-baked, and chewy, these no-sugar-added granola bars will fill up the tank and keep your energy stable. Feel free to play around with the mix-ins, as the recipe is quite adaptable. Also, if you’re feeding a nut-free crowd, you can easily swap out the walnuts and almonds for more seeds (or chocolate chips, if you’re feeling wild!). This recipe is adapted from Anjali's Oat Snack Bars recipe, which was originally adapted from Faith's 4-Ingredient Banana Oat Bars.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (360 g) mashed ripe banana (about 3 large)
- 1 teaspoon (5 mL) pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (200 g) gluten-free rolled oats
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup (60 to 90 g) dried cherries, cranberries, or blueberries, to taste*
- 1/2 cup (50 g) walnuts, chopped
- 1/2 cup (75 g) sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup (80 g) pepita seeds
- 1/2 cup (60 g) sliced almonds
- 1/4 cup (35 g) hemp hearts
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a large rectangular baking dish (approximately 9" x 13") and line with a piece of parchment paper (with overhang) so the bars are easier to remove.
- In a large bowl, mash the banana until smooth. Make sure you have 1 1/2 cups (if you have extra mashed banana, you can freeze it for a smoothie).
- Stir in the vanilla.
- Place the oats into a food processor (or blender set on the lowest speed) and pulse until the oats are coarsely chopped (but still have lots of texture). Stir the chopped oats into the banana mixture until fully incorporated.
- Stir the dried fruit, walnuts, sunflower and pepita seeds, almonds, hemp hearts, cinnamon, and salt into the banana-oat mixture until thoroughly combined. The dough will be very heavy and a bit wet.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared dish. With lightly wet hands, smooth out until even and uniform. Press down on the dough until compacted.
- Bake for 22 to 26 minutes, until firm and lightly golden along the edges.
- Place the dish on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then carefully slide a knife to loosen the ends and gently lift out. Place the slab on a cooling rack until completely cool.
- Once cool, slice into bars. I like to use a pizza slicer as it easily cuts through the dried fruit and nuts. Leftovers can be wrapped up and stored in the fridge for a week, or stored in the freezer for 4 to 6 weeks.
Tip:
* You can omit the dried fruit and sub in chocolate chips (or add a mix of both).
These bars aren't super sweet, so if you prefer something sweeter you may want to add a touch of sweetener.
To store these in the freezer, wrap the bars individually in parchment paper using 6-inch by 12-inch pieces of parchment, then tie with string or tape to secure. Finally, place all of the bars into a freezer-safe zip bag, press out all the air, and seal it shut. Or, you can simply wrap each bar with plastic wrap or tinfoil.
Approximate nutritional info: (per bar, based on 14 large bars using 1/2 cup dried sweetened cherries): 186 calories, 8.7 grams fat, 22 grams carbs, 4.7 grams fibre, 6 grams sugar, 6.6 grams protein. Without dried cherries, bars have approx. 3.6 grams of sugar and 166 calories.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
PS- The winner of the Vitamix contest has been announced at the bottom of this post! A big thank you to everyone who took part in the #osgcookbook Vitamix giveaway and to Vitamix for donating the machine. I had a blast seeing all your pictures come in over the past 2 weeks.
Hi! These look so yummy! I was wondering if you have a replacement suggestion for those of us that can’t stomach even gluten free oats?
Also just wanted to say thanks for doing what you do! With my severely restricted diet, eating has become so much more enjoyable since I discovered your site!!
Hi Angela – these look delicious! Would apple sauce be an appropriate substitution for the bananas? I am very keen to make these but I am not a banana person. They make me queasy :(
Baby #1 is due in 5 weeks and I need to get cracking on my freezer meals. Can’t wait to try out this recipe. Thx.
Hi! I love your website, by the way.
I was wondering if you think quick-cooking oats would work in place of the pulsed rolled oats? Or do you think that the quick oats would be too small, and that the texture would be off?
Thanks!
Sam
Where do you get your jars to store all your seeds and nuts?
Hi, can these be left out of the fridge or freezer? And if yes- for how long? I am hoping to travel with them.
I’m SO hoping to get outside more this summer, taking hikes and bike trips, even last-minute ones, so we need to have some good trip food in the freezer ready to go … just like these!
Also, just wanted you to know that so far, my 18-month-old LOVED the chia power donuts and the quinoa-broccoli-cheesy wraps. (I also have a picture of her at Christmas with a lentil-walnut-mushroom ball in each hand :-) ).
oh and p.s. she also loves looking at the cookbook and saying “MMM,” and she likes looking at your smiling face in those pictures, too!
You take great food pictures! I’m going to make these tomorrow night and I guarantee my kitchen will not look so photogenic!
Granola Bars with NO OIL!?!? YES!!!! I am amazed! Will definitely be attempting these as I love granola bars but can’t stand how much added fat they usually contain. Thanks!
I made these yesterday for a trip this weekend. They are amazing! And so easy, I highly recommend that anyone try them! I used dried figs instead of cherries, hazelnuts instead of walnuts, added coconut. Thanks for all you do for the vegan (and beyond) community! You’re amazing! I’m also making the chia bread for our trip. Thanks again!
A quick heads up! Something that I wish I new BEFORE I started preparing freezer meals and snacks for when our bundle of joy arrived – make sure u do research on what you can and can not eat once your liitle bandino arives. Things like chocolate, garlic, onion, broc, cauli, bell peppers, kale, cukes…all that awesomeness will give your little cutesy bad gas pains throughout the. My best advice (not that u need any) is to cut those out of ur diet for the first three months until the baby has developed more and is able to digest more. Even though it is all coming from breast milk is it still too hard on their little tummies. So bizarre I know! And very hard to do. But life is so much better then your little cutesy isn’t crying! Trust me. So your days with have to be filled with simple salads and bland main courses!
Throughout the day*! I dont like typing on my phone! Haha sorry Ang. And my phone auto corrected bambino!
these are so so good! and they smell amazing while they’re baking! i can already see the fall version of this with some pumpkin added in :-)
I love granola bars! I especially like the versatility of putting in your favorite nut or seed for a healthy and filling snack! Excellent images, too!
Julie
Gourmet Getaways
Oh my. These look amazing!!! I am going to try to make these soon.
Angela! I absolutely love your cookbook! I ordered it a few weeks ago, and so far have made these bars (or the very similar ones in the book–which my co-workers LOVE), the marinated balsamic maple tempeh, broccoli and cashew cheese quinoa burrito, potato-avocado salad, tomato basil pasta, creamy tomato soup, hummus, apple and pear baked oatmeal…and many batches of the almond milk and various smoothies. Everything is SO GOOD! Even my non-vegan friends rave about your recipes.
Thank you so much! You make being vegan so much less boring…and DELICIOUS!
I feel like you read my mind! I picked up a bunch of ingredients in hopes of making granola bars this week and then you posted this wonderful recipe! These were so good, just the right amount of subtle sweetness and so nutritious. Perfect for an energy boost. They reminded me a little of Go Raw live bars. I love the way you dressed them up with parchment paper and string. One day I will take the time to make them fancy, but I have a feeling this batch won’t last long enough for me to tie them up ;) These will definitely be a staple granola bar recipe in my house! Thank you!!
@Angela – What do you use to cut the bars? I think I remember a pic of you using something like a pizza cutter, but I tried mine and it did not work. I’m assuming you uses a tool that’s more heavy duty.
I love the ingredients in this recipe! Another great addition could be goji berries. They are rich in nutrients and are delicious.
I made these last night and they are awesome!
Thanks Angela!
After trying these I don’t think I will ever buy a granola bar again :) And they are easy and fast to make.
I added 1tbsp of maple syrup since I wanted them a little bit sweeter and I used dried figs instead of cherries. It came out great!
These look amazing Angela! I’m going to spend Memorial Day weekend this weekend, making these to have to snack on while I’m recovering from knee surgery. I have a nephew who is an avid outdoorsman, certified Naturalist and vegetarian, I had to email this recipe to him so he can have these on his long backpacking ventures. I emailed the recipe to him immediately. Oh and btw, I have ordered several of you books and given them as gifts to my veggie and vegan friends and family. They’ve all absolutely loved the recipes and tried them. I love the book and have one myself. Thanks again!
Thank you Gracie! That makes me so happy to hear :) Thank you for all your support!
PS- Wishing you a speedy recovery.