Granola Bars. Health food or sugar & fat bombs masquerading as a wholesome snack? The answer quite simply is: it completely depends on what ingredients go into the bars.
I used to buy granola bars at the grocery store without a second glance (or first glance for that matter) at the nutrition label. A few years ago, when I started making a conscious effort to research what was in the food I purchased, I was disappointed to discover that most pre-packaged granola bars are over-processed and filled with sugar. One of my favorite brands of granola bars while growing up – hint: it has “Nature” in the title – lists sugar as the second ingredient, with both honey and brown sugar syrup following close behind for a combined total of a whopping 12 grams of sugar per serving. That’s a lot of sugar for a supposedly “healthy” snack or breakfast, folks. Dessert? Sure. Pre-workout fuel? No thanks.
Then we come to the multitude of recipes for homemade granola bars. Scour the Internet for said recipes, and I guarantee you’ll find that most call for butter, oil, and at least two types of refined sugar. Are those ingredients really necessary to achieve a delicious homemade granola bar?
I think not.
So I set out to make a batch of granola bars that a) taste fantastic and b) meet my nutritional preferences. I adore the flavor combination of chocolate and dried cherries, but lurking in certain versions of both ingredients is a large amount of – you guessed it – sugar. In order to fulfill my desire for low-sugar granola bars, I used unsweetened dried cherries (found at Trader Joe’s) and Sunspire grain-sweetened chocolate chips [one of my pantry staples; sweetened only with malted grains, these chocolate chips have half the amount of sugar (4 grams per serving) of regular chocolate chips (8 + grams per serving)]. In order to keep the fat content in check I replaced the typical addition of butter or oil with unsweetened applesauce and a modest amount of creamy peanut butter, which yields a pleasantly chewy granola bar.
Cherries & Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars
Ingredients:
- canola oil cooking spray
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 Tbsp brown rice syrup (alternately, you could use the equivalent amount of honey, agave nectar, or pure maple syrup)
- 1/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup puffed brown rice cereal
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsweetened & unsulfured dried cherries
- 1/2 cup grain-sweetened chocolate chips
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line an 8 x 8 inch square baking pan (or a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan for thicker bars) with parchment paper so the sides hang over the edge of the pan. Lightly coat with canola oil cooking spray; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the applesauce, liquid sweetener of your choice, peanut butter, and vanilla extract; stir until the mixture is completely homogenous.
- Fold in the rolled oats, puffed rice cereal, salt, dried cherries, and chocolate chips. Spoon batter into the prepared pan, spreading into an even layer, and bake until lightly golden brown, about 20 minutes (add a few additional minutes of baking time if you’re using a loaf pan).
- Allow to cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then remove by picking up the sides of the parchment paper. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into bars.
I adore chocolate and cherries. And I adore granola bars. I love the Kashi flavor of these but I think homemade would be ultimately the best!
These look and sound great. I just bookmarked them. I love the chocolate and cherry combo. YUM
great pics and a great recipe. I am always looking for good granola recipes!
YUM! Those look fantastic! Definitely making these!
I love making my own granola bars! I agree with what you said, the store bought kind (no matter how “healthy” they are) are never as good as something you make on your own, especially when you choose all of the ingredients yourself :)
I’m so excited to find this recipe. I made granola bars the other day, thinking I would make something healthy.. They ended up so sweet, I couldn’t stand to eat them! (and I have an insatiable sweet tooth!) Between the massive amount of sugar and ridiculous amount of butter, they turned into caramel coated oats, rather than something I felt good about eating. I can’t wait to try your recipe instead.
I’ve had granola bars on my list for a LONG time now and I’ve slowly been accumulating ingredients haha…Brown rice syrup, crisp brown rice cereal, I think I’m actually all set now just have to make them! I love the look of your bars!! They look delicious :)
aah, you’re so on the ball! i’ve really got to get on the granola and granola bar bandwagon :) although i’ve been sticking more to the date-based ones for running fuel these days… one attempt but need to keep it up!
Lauren, I’m so glad you posted this recipe. I am about to eat my last homemade granola bar and was planning on making another (lower in sugar) batch this weekend. These sound perfect!
Where did you get those choc chips? Online? WF used to carry pb chips by the same brand but I haven’t seen them in about a year :(
Hey Elina,
I buy the Sunspire grain-sweetened chocolate chips at the Fresh Pond Whole Foods. When I find them, I stock up! I caved and ordered a few packages of the Sunspire white chocolate chips online b/c I can’t find another comparable brand in stores.
I just found your blog and I love it!! Your cooking style and tastes seem similar to mine. I love that I’ve found another place that offers delicious and healthy recipes. Can’t wait to try some!
Check out my blog if you’re interested:
http://www/amourpetitgateau.blogspot.com
[...] before a workout) so it will be good to have something a little healthier on hand. Lauren’s chocolate cherry granola bars caught my eye today. Do you have a granola bar recipe you [...]
Yummy!!
I’ve never noticed that those chocolate chips are half the sugar! Thanks for enlightening me! This recipe looks perfect for a sweet tooth like me whose always looking for ways to eat sweet but reduce sugar.
[...] Cherries & Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars. Lauren went on a quest to create a healthy granola bar and succeeded! Check out those pics – they look delectable. On Healthy Food for Living, Lauren strives to find a balance between `eat to live’ and `live to eat’. I think she got it with this recipe! [...]
I love making granola and granola bars at home. I actually just recently bought cherries, almonds, and dark chocolate and was planning to make g-bars with them. Peanut butter sounds like a good idea too!
P.S. It was so nice to meet you last night!
i love both peanut butter and cheeze as the filling of my morning sandwhich.;-;
Dark chocolate is my favorite kind of chocolate. Chocolates have some natural antioxidants too.’-;
Thank you so much for dropping by my blog and leaving a comment. Why? Because now I found your blog! Your cooking style is so much like mine that I am absolutely loving going back through all of your posts and looking at the wonderful recipes. I will definately be making these wonderful granola bars!!
Wow, I will have to try this sometime! I love your blog… I will add it to my blogroll!
i love to eat dark chocolate because it is very tasty and it is full of antioxidants too,.;
i am allergic to peanuts so i can only taste a bit of peanut butter even if i love it so much..’;