“A health snack that you can make at home”

  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil (or regular butter), for greasing the baking tray
  • 100 g pecans, chopped
  • 100 g almond flakes
  • 125 g (1 1/4 cups) rolled oats
  • 90 g shredded coconut, loosely packed (I used unsweetened)
  • 330 g (1 cup) brown rice syrup (or use honey)
  • 50 g (1/4 cup) natural cane sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons ground espresso beans (or ground coffee)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 180°C. Butter an 20×30cm baking dish and line it with parchment paper.

Toss the oatmeal, pecans, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned (around 7 minutes). Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl.

Combine the rice syrup (we used clearsprings organic), sugar, salt, espresso, and vanilla in a small saucepanover medium heat and stir constantly as it comes to a boil and thickens just a bit, about 4 minutes. Pour the syrup over the oat mixture and stir until it is evenly incorporated.

Pour the mixture into your prepared baking dish and press it in (wet fingers and/or a silicon spatula work great for this) until the mixture is packed as tightly as possible.

Cool for 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares — your best serrated knife is great for this.

You can store these in an airtight container at room temperature for a week or two, as you would cookies, however, I prefer to store mine in the freezer. I find that they stay the most crisp this way as all granola tends to soften at room temperature after a day or more.

Notes : We used a tray with separated compartments that worked a treat.  You can find all the ingredients including the Rice Syrup at the health food store such as Good Earth in Balutta for our Maltese readers.

Source : 101 cookbooks and smitten kitchen combination (101 cookbooks have a great video on her site)

Servings/Yield : Makes 12 to 16 granola bars

Difficulty : Easy

Course : Snack

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