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?
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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.
Make it Nut free: Swap the almonds and walnuts for more sunflower, pepita, and hemp seeds.
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.
I love everything on your site and the second your book came out I ran to costco :D Only thing BANANAS!!!!! My son and I are soooooooo allergic to bananas and I would love to make them these especially because of the nut free option, school being nut free is a bit of a challenge, as well they are garbage free so pretty much everything has to be homemade or throw the wrappers out before you go to school. Anyways to the question bananas Im guessing would help bind these what would you suggest instead of bananas since they are clearly not an option for my little family.
I made these bars earlier this summer and wanted to share that my boss ate one as his pre-race meal before competing in a 1/2 marathon. He had nothing but praise for the amount of energy and lack of mid-way glycemic crash experienced. We chalk his response to the lack of added sugar!
Thanks so much for the recipe! Winner for sure.
Hi Angela (and other OSG followers)!
This may sound like a silly question but I’m pretty new to cooking and not very confident in my skills. As such, I try to follow recipes pretty strictly.
I have a vitamix but am often confused whether I can use that (the dry container) when you say “process” an ingredient…I also have a chopper but I don’t have a “food processor” per say…
If you could clarify the difference or how you use your machines, it would really help me!
thanks so much!
These are wonderful! I mixed up a batch last night for some back-to-school/broke graduate student snacks when hunger strikes at the lab, and they are wonderful. Not too sweet, crunchy from the seeds and nuts, and oh-so-oat-y! I also added in a TB of chia seeds for good measure. Will be trying these with dates and dried coconut next time! I love that the binder and major sweetener is banana…affordable, on-hand and good for you!
I just tried this recipe, and I have to say this is the first one that I have tried from your site that was not outstanding; it seems like there was some kind of binding agent missing; the mixture was very crumbly and did not hold well together after baking (I even added a tbsp of coconut oil & a quarter cup of almond milk, but to no avail). Is this normal
I really want to make these bars but am allergic to bananas. Is there anything I can substitute? Applesauce perhaps?
Thanks!
These were sooo good they didn’t even make it to the freezer! I used cranberries instead of cherries and loved the hint of tartness but still sweet enough to feel like a treat.
I just made these! I love that they aren’t overly sweet, thats exactly what I wanting. I didn’t have dried cherries or hemp seeds, so I used equal dried cranberries and 2 tablespoons of chia seeds instead. They turned out great, Thanks!
I just made these granola bars. They turned out lovely. I tried baking granola bars before but they went black at the bottom. Making them in a baking dish worked perfectly. And the (unsweetened) dried cherries are the icing on the cake. YUM.
P.S. I found your blog a few weeks ago and since then I’ve been hooked. You have a great style of blogging, mixing personal stuff with recipes and photos. I love reading your stuff and you inspire me to start blogging myself. Looking forward to reading about your new family member in the next few days :)
I’ve made these twice. Love them! They are quick to make and very satisfying.
thank you so much for posting this recipe! i made these for a gluten-free vegan 3yo who needs to take snacks to his nut-free preschool. i used gluten-free oats (whole, btw and they worked just fine), and more seeds in place of the nuts. also added some flax seed. so easy and he says, “MMM!”.
Angela these are fabulous! Mine are barely out of the oven but I had to try some, I couldn’t wait haha and they are perfect. Like a nutty chewy banana bread and they are holding together perfectly. Love that there’s no nut butter or added sugar, I had some bananas going off so it worked perfectly. Thank you! X
I just made these for my boyfriend so that he has nutritious and filling snacks to bring to work. He’s a sweet-a-holic so I added a little bit of maple syrup, and swapped the sliced almonds for sesame seeds. They are DELICIOUS, thank you for this!
These are yummy!!! I made them today, and ate about four of them within an hour. Then I ate another one pre-workout and post workout. The remaining bars are in the freezer. I didn’t have dried cherries, so I substituted dried cranberries. Quick, easy, and delicious!!!
These look fantastic!
Could you substitute oats for quinoa flakes?
I’m coeliac and can’t have oats.
Thanks!
I’ve made these 4 times now, with minor tweaks here and there, and they always turn out so beautifully. Thank you for this wonderful recipe, it really keeps me fueled up for hours.
Made these today and they are delish (especially with some peanut butter on top)! Love that there was no added sweetener. I didn’t have any cherries so just used sultanas. Your granola bars are always on rotation in my freezer!
I made these this past weekend and I have to say – they actually keep me full! It’s so hard to find snacks that give me lasting energy. Thank you, Angela!
Do you have any banana substitution recommendations? I am highly allergic to them, but love so many recipes with them in it. In shakes and smoothies I use silken tofu, but what about a recipe like this? Any thoughts?
I added dark chocolate. I love this recipe… Thank you!