Peanut Butter and Oat Granola Bars
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In this recipe, we will be exploring just how versatile raw granola batters can be. We will be making bars, sticks, and even cereal (should you choose to be adventurous)! These bars are raw, vegan, oil-free, and totally FREE from gluten, dairy, refined sugar, soy, artificial flavors, and BHT (preservative). My goal was to create a granola that wasn’t too sweet, slightly chewy, yet holds its shape without the need for Spanx. (What’s with my crazy sense of humor?!)
Bar Shapes
Granola bars don’t have to be locked into their typical bar shapes. Growing up we all heard “Stop playing with your food!” Well, today, I am giving you permission to START playing with your food!
Bar Shapes
- Nothing fancy or complicated about them… just what you might expect in a granola bar.
- You can make them long and skinny or short and chubby.
- Regardless of their shape, be sure to create portion-controlled sizes.
Granola Sticks
- I thought this shape would also be perfect for young ones. No sharp edges for their delicate mouths, and the ideal shape to grasp with their little paws.
- You will need a piping bag and a 1/2″ piping tip for this task.
Create a Cereal
- You can easily turn this recipe or part of it into cereal.
- I failed to snap some photos of me scoring it into small bite-sized pieces, but you can use the same technique as making the bars. Instead of scoring them into bar shapes, you will create little cubes.
- Add some plant-based milk, perhaps some fresh berries (wish I had some for the photoshoot), and enjoy.
Ingredients and Techniques
Raw Almonds and Oats
- The ingredient list specifies soaked almonds and oats. When it comes to creating recipes, my first and foremost goal to make the recipe nutrient-dense and easy to digest (hence the soaking process).
- If you are new to this technique, click (here- for oats) and (here – for almonds) to learn how and why.
Prunes
- When most people think of prunes, they think of elimination issues. The reason for this has to due to their fiber content. I LOVE prunes and prune juice. In fact, I used to buy bottles of prune juice just for enjoyment. One day, while checking out at the grocery store the checker scanned the bottle. As she lowered it into the bag she looked at me and said, “Oh, I am sorry that you don’t feel good.” When I told her that I felt fine and that I just enjoyed the taste, she blinked hard a few times.
- The prunes act as a binder and whole-food sweetener in this recipe.
- Substitution: pitted Medjool dates or dried figs. Another option–if you have date paste on hand, you can use 1/2 cup.
Bob loves to top the granola bars with jam.
Chia and Flax Seeds
- Both of these seeds are loaded with nutrients and by using both, you are increasing the variety of nutrients that your body is getting.
- The flax seeds require either soaking or grinding to a powder in order for your body to absorb the nutrients they have to offer. For this recipe, you will be grinding them.
- Chia seeds, however, don’t require being ground to a powder in order for the body to absorb them, so you will be using them whole.
Almond or Peanut Butter
- I have used both almond and peanut butter in the past. Both taste amazing.
- You can use any nut or seed butter; just keep in mind that each variety changes the flavor of the granola bar.
- The nut butter also works as a binder in this recipe, helping everything stick together.
Remember, your intuition, creativity, and joy are the best assets to bring to the kitchen. Feel free to sub in/out any ingredients to fit your dietary needs. This recipe is quite forgiving and can handle anything you throw at it… except broccoli. That would just be wrong (just checking to see if you are paying attention). Enjoy and have a blessed day, amie sue
Ingredients:
- 1 cup raw almonds, soaked
- 3 cups gluten-free rolled oats, soaked & rinsed
- 2/3 cup prunes, rehydrated in 2/3 cup hot water
- 3/4 cups natural almond or peanut butter
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup applesauce
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground Ceylon cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Himalayan pink salt
- 1/2 cup hemp hearts
- 1/2 cup chia seeds
- 1/4 cup golden flaxseeds, ground
Preparation:
Dough Preparation
- After the almonds have soaked, drain and rinse them. Place the almonds in the food processor bowl, fitted with the “S” blade. Process until they resemble a small crumble. Pour into a small bowl and set aside.
- After the oats are done soaking, rinse the living daylights out of them.
- Pour into a large stainless steel, mesh strainer, putting it under the faucet. As the water is running through the oats, agitate them with your hand. This will speed up the rinsing process. I enjoy this process; the smell of oats is so yummy to me.
- Hand squeeze the excess water from the oats and set aside.
- Place the prunes in 2/3 cup of hot water and soak till soft; pour the prunes and water in the food processor bowl along with the nut butter, maple syrup, applesauce, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon. Process until creamy smooth.
- Add the soaked and drained oats, ground almonds, hemp, chia, and flax seeds. Pulse until everything is well mixed. Stop and scrape the sides down as needed.
- Let the mixture sit for 15 minutes.
- This gives the flax and chia seeds time to activate and thicken the mixture.
Granola Sticks
- To create granola sticks, you will need a pastry bag and a 1/2″ circular piping tip.
- Place the tip snugly into the bag.
- Slide the bag, tip first, into a quart-sized mason jar, and fold the edges of the bag over the mouth of the jar, creating a collar.
- With your free hand, using a spoon or long spatula, fill the bag.
- Don’t overfill the bag. If you do, the batter might ooze out the other end, or it might be too much to handle.
- Before twisting the bag shut, work out any air bubbles. Twist the bag tight.
- Any air encountered during piping will result in a little explosion of filling and disrupt your long stick.
- It is good to do this step every time you fill the bag and/or when you have problems piping.
- Hold the tip of the bag at a 45-degree angle and with firm but gentle pressure, squeeze the batter out onto a non-stick sheet that works with the dehydrator.
- As the batter comes out, slowly move your hand down the length of the tray, making long sticks. Repeat till the batter is used up.
- Dehydrate at 145 degrees (F) for 1 hour, then reduce to 115 degrees and continue to dry for about 18+ hours.
- Partway through the drying process, remove them from the non-stick sheet and place them directly on the mesh sheet so they can dry quicker.
- You can pull them out at any stage of dryness that you desire.
- Are you concerned about the 145 temp? Read why I do this (here).
- Store in an airtight container or wrap individually.
Granola Bars and/or Cereal Squares
- Place a non-stick dehydrator sheet on top of the counter.
- Place the batter in the center and cover it with plastic wrap.
- Roll the batter out to about 1/4″ or thicker.
- The thicker the batter, the longer it will take to dry.
- Remove the plastic wrap and with a butter knife or long metal ruler, score the batter into the shapes that you want.
- Place the bars on the dehydrator tray that comes with the dehydrator and dry at 145 degrees (F) for 1 hour, then reduce to 115 degrees and continue to dry for about 18+ hours.
- Partway through the drying process, remove them from the non-stick sheet and place them directly on the mesh sheet so they can dry quicker.
- You can pull them out at any stage of dryness that you desire.
- Store in an airtight container or wrap individually.
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Here is a close-up of what my batter looked like.
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Roll the batter out in between two non-stick sheets to 1/4-1/2″ thick.
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Clean up the edges and score into bar shapes or cereal squares.
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To make the granola sticks, load a piping bag that is fitted with a 1/2″ piping tip.
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Holding the bag at a 45 degree angle, pipe the batter out onto the non-stick dehydrator sheet with a slow, steady, and even pressure.
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Score into any length you want and dehydrate.
© AmieSue.com
Tags: Dairy Free, Dehydrated, Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, Vegan
Hello Aimee Sue:
Your website is great, and I love looking at all your pictures! Have you changed something recently regarding printing your recipes? The print icon is missing now on your recipes. Thank you.
Dina
Thank you Dina…The print button is deactivated at the moment. Doing some behind the scene work on the site right now. Have a great day! amie sue
I noticed that in the last two recipes I couldn’t find the print feature. I liked being able to store your recipes as PDF files on my computer. Please bring it back.
The print button is deactivated at the moment. Doing some behind the scene work on the site right now. Have a great day! amie sue
alright, I will give in and finally ask:
WHERE DO YOU BUY COST WORTHY, ABSOLUTELY, COMPLETELY “RAW” ALMONDS???
Love everything you can do with pulp, but since pasteurization, have found many other nut replacements in Raw recipes and have grown to really love some of them, even some of the milks, BUT pulp from other nuts just don’t work the same in recipes, especially crackers
Have ordered from “Livinge Tree Community” in California in the past, but just can’t afford shipping plus cost per pound
SOOOO, tell me how I can make all the wonderful recipes of yours without Almonds (other nuts have better nutritional values as well)
By the way, I’ve been Raw for over 10yrs in a city that has little to offer, most people look at me as if I’m crazy
Past few years, have added Lite Vegan and have always done all Organic since the 60’s
Started Raw back when David Wolfe first stepped out with SuperFoods
Transitioned to a Raw lifestyle with the help of online folks, especially from other countries
Create my own inventive balance of nutrient rich foods, but crackers have always been my downfall, like them crispy, crunchy, tired of everything “chewie-seedie”
Please, help me figure this out so my new 70 year old self can stay young, strong, and happy
Thanks
~S
Hello Sandra,
You can find raw almonds from the following places on-line:
Wilderness Family (http://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com/product/nuts-and-seeds-raw-nuts-and-seeds/NRACase25.php)
Z- Natural Foods (http://www.znaturalfoods.com/Almonds-Raw-3-lbs?gclid=CjwKEAjw6Z2pBRCmvaXq6d7FjUoSJAAc5LriyNClbyBSF5VZYH7K4FLxCBrPvgN-Lh4dNhXoX7aErhoCSz7w_wcB)
Your Paris Market (http://www.yourparismarket.com/raw-unpasteurized-california-almonds-5-pounds?SID=1d369e414e24fc2be7cfef27e732f880&gclid=CjwKEAjw6Z2pBRCmvaXq6d7FjUoSJAAc5LriWojd3HBkMlMXKDldy-HLcboO6I2aNMM1ey7FZTQP6xoCO5Tw_wcB)
The Raw Food World (http://www.therawfoodworld.com/organictrulyrawalmonds16oz-pi1002847#.VSf8KJTF9B8)
Those are some places that you can look at.
You asked, “SOOOO, tell me how I can make all the wonderful recipes of yours without Almonds (other nuts have better nutritional values as well)” It all depends on the recipe, most of the time you can sub out nuts with others. Depends on the flavor profile, and texture, so I don’t have a solid across the board answer. Too many variables.
I have a lot of cracker recipes that produce crunchy crackers, take a peek and see if any of them sound good to you. :)
Stay young and healthy!! Blessings, amie sue
Needs a Chocolate Dip and a Citrus Dip!
I have done one like this and stuffed apples with it – but I added chocolate chips!!
Great snacks!
Sounds yummy Carmen, thank you for sharing. :) Have a blessed day, amie sue
Look and sound absolutely scrumptious but did I miss the ‘print recipe’ button?
Hello Esther,
The print button is deactivated at the moment. Doing some behind the scene work on the site right now. Have a great day! amie sue
Again I’m making another one of your bar- type recipes. Am I wrong or have you omitted the addition of the oats and syrup ingredients? Of course they are getting added out of order for me as I didn’t see the omission til I was nearly done. And then I discovered my almonds to have gotten moldy and they are now discarded. So hmmm. What to do? Added rinsed and toasted pepitas and sunflower seeds. But, no, after tasting the batter, the almonds are a must. So now the batter is in the fridge till the almonds get their soak and rinse. No time to dehydrate them so they will have to be added to the batter in 8-10mins hours when, FOR SURE, the chia will have established a massive glob of concrete in which I will attempt to fold in my nuts. Hee hee!! I’ll manage somehow but might have to soften it all up a bit. Any suggestions, amie-sue?
Thank so much for all your good work on this site!
Good afternoon Nancy….
Eeep this is so odd, for some strange reason, it published my first revision of the recipe. It didn’t save all the rearranging I did when I fine-tuned the recipe. Sorry about that. I got it all fixed, oy-vey… that’s just downright embarrassing. hehe Sorry about that. I don’t understand why the soaked almonds got moldy though, that seems odd. Did you have them previously soaked? Regardless…. now to fix the situation at hand. After the almonds are done soaking, drain and discard the water. Grind them in the food processor, then hand mix them into the granola batter. The batter shouldn’t be a hard clump. Just work it with your hands and squish it all together. You can add a splash of water if you feel it is needed. Hard for me to know without seeing or touching it myself. :)
Once again sorry! amie sue
HI,
is there a substitute for nuts in your recipes because I am allergic to all nuts and I would love to try your granola and other recipes
Thanks Dot
Hello Dorothy,
I am sorry to hear that you have a negative reaction to nuts, food allergies are no fun for sure!
There is no straight answer to give when it comes to substituting nuts in a recipe. It all depends on why the nut was used. They are used for many reasons. It might be for the different flavors they give a recipe, but also for the different textures that they lend to a recipe. In raw recipes we don’t use commercially processed flours such as wheat so we turn to nuts and seeds which can be ground to flours. Nuts are also used to create smooth and creamy textures that can mimic processed cheese, milks, creams… dairy in general. With all that being said, it will always depend on how and why nuts are being used in a recipe. Sometimes there will be substitutions and other times nothing else will work and you just have to seek a completely different recipe to suit your dietary needs.
What could be used instead of almonds, almond or peanut butter?
You could replace the first ingredient of almonds to perhaps sprouted buckwheat, peanuts (not a nut), sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds or even a combo. I chose almonds for their neutral but slightly sweet flavor, their nutrients, and for texture… to add bulk to the bars.
As far as replacing the almond or peanut butter… you could use perhaps sunflower seed butter or coconut butter. I chose to use almond butter again for its neutral taste, to add a healthy fat to the bar and to act as a binder, which helps to hold the batter together when shaping it. I also tried the bar with peanut butter because we love that flavor in our household. Peanuts are not nuts in fact but legumes… not sure if you tolerate peanuts.
Due note that with every substitution, the overall flavor and often the texture of what I create and stand behind as a solid recipe will be effected.
I hope this helps, many blessings. amie sue