Trail Mix Granola Bars

I have made homemade granola bars in the past but have been quite unsuccessful with them actually sticking together.

These Thick Chewy Granola Bars, which I made a while back, definitely fell apart as evident here.

But I have now discovered the secret!


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The secret is that you have to bring the sugars (and a few other ingredients) to a boil and cook off some of the liquid. This concentrates the sugars and allows the ingredients to actually stick together.

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Trail Mix Granola Bars

(Recipe inspired from here.)

Ingredients

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup sunflower seed butter

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

2 Tablespoons pumpkin seeds

2 Tablespoons chia seeds

1/2 cup dried fruit (I used cherries and raisins.)

Directions

1. Combine the honey, sunflower seed butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt together in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil on stovetop. Reduce heat, and simmer for 3 minutes; stirring occasionally.

2. In a bowl, combine the oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, pumpking seeds, chia seeds, and dried fruit.

3. Pour honey mixture over oat mixture and stir until full incorporated.

4. Press into a pan and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour.


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These are by far my favorite granola bars I have ever made! They are thick, chewy, and incredibly delicious!

Enjoy!

Hi, I'm Michelle

I love running around the lakes of Minnesota, running after my two boys, and racing anything from the 5K to the marathon. I have been blogging here since 2010 when I ran my first marathon. I finally secured my sub-3 hour marathon after trying for 8 years.

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8 Comments

  1. 6.27.11
    Em said:

    Those homemade granola bars look great! Im impressed 🙂

  2. 6.27.11
    dana @ my little celebration said:

    Good to know! My last bars fell apart all over the place. I’ll have to bookmark these!

  3. 6.27.11

    Those look fantastic! I just made some granola bars today, but next time we are out I will have to try these! Nothing beats homemade granola bars

  4. 6.27.11
    Sarah said:

    good info- can’t wait to try it!

  5. 6.27.11
    Megan (Running Foodie) said:

    Oh gosh, I am so excited to make these! We are leaving on a road trip tomorrow, so I’m going to make these tonight for sure 🙂

  6. 6.27.11
    Yolanda said:

    I will be trying these soon as well, but do you think that I could use almond butter instead of the sunflower seed butter?

    • 6.28.11
      Michelle said:

      Most definitely!

      • 6.29.11
        Yolanda said:

        I made these this morning and changed them up a bit, as we are leaving on vacation tomorrow from KS to the mountains of CO and I am signed up to run my first ever 10k trail run. I’ve only done a 2m race and 5k’s. Kicking it up a notch and thought these might be great to fuel with the day before and after the race. I used raw peanut butter instead, but next time I will try them with the almond butter. Now to taste them in a couple of hours after a pilates class.