This is a sponsored post done in partnership with Stonyfield and Bob’s Red Mill, as a member of the Stonyfield YoGetters blogger program. As always, all opinions are my own.
Granola bars were a staple of my childhood. My favorite was the one with the chocolate chips. I would throw a few in my backpack and 
they were always a perfect snack or even sometimes (don’t tell my mom) a quick lunch. I used to buy them in huge boxes from warehouse stores even as an adult. After I discovered my daughter’s nut allergies, though, I stopped buying and eating granola bars. Most granola bars contain nuts or were made in place where nuts were used on the equipment and would not be safe for my daughter to eat at home or at school. And just like Rice Krispies treats, I thought granola bars would be impossible to make at home. Thanks to Stonyfield and Bob’s Red Mill, I decided to try my hand at making some nut-free homemade granola bars.
After doing an internet search, I came up with a list of ingredients that seemed common in granola bars and also found a recipe that I thought I could use at Super Healthy Kids. I modified it with the ingredients I had and could find, of course. Instead of the common flat oats, I used Bob’s Red Mill Steel Cut Oats. Steel cut oatsaren’t flattened out like the oats you commonly see and they seem to be a bit chewier. Bob’s Red Mill also sent me coconut sugar. I had never heard of coconut sugar before and was excited to try it out. It’s definitely more mellow like brown sugar, but still granular like white sugar. It doesn’t taste like coconut, either.
Here’s the modified recipe I used:
Homemade Nut-Free Granola Bars (modified from Super Healthy Kids’ Granola Bar recipe)
- 2 cup steel cut oats
- 2/3 cup organic coconut sugar
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 3 tsp. cinnamon (I love cinnamon)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup local honey
- 2 tbsp. coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 cup sunflower/pumpkin seeds
- 1/3 cup ground flaxseed
Mix all the ingredients together and press into a greased 9×13 pan. It’s going to look super dry and crumbly, but the recipe stated that it would look like this and that it was going to turn out fine. I trusted the recipe.
Bake at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the edges are browned. I rotated my pan in the oven and left it in for another 7 minutes or so since only one side of the pan seemed to have browned edges.
The directions said to let it cool completely and then cut the granola bars, but I found that it was too hard. I think next time, I will cut it when it’s warm. Also, I think I would add chocolate chips to it.
The result? It tasted pretty delicious! I was impressed that it was pretty easy to make the granola bars. I used the pieces that came out more crumbly in some Stonyfield Greek yogurt with a drizzle of honey and it was so good. I can’t wait to make these again and also make some nut-free granola.
