These amazing little bars are virtually foolproof! They freeze well and hold together great! Best of all, you control the ingredients that you are putting into your kids. That is a good feeling, knowing that your kids are not having to filter through a bunch of ingredients that may not be added to their health. This is an “easy” recipe to do with the kids. Annabelle has mastered the egg cracking process.
I soaked and dehydrated the seeds that I used in this recipe. I also soaked and soured the oatmeal. Both processes, increase the digestibility of the ingredients. If you can digest them better, then your body can access the nutrition more easily.
To prepare the pumpkin seeds, soak them in filtered water overnight. Drain them and either dehydrate them in a dehydrator on medium heat, about 170 F. Or dehydrate them in an oven at 170F or as low as your oven will go. I typically prepare big batches, and I use a dehydrator. About 8 cups of seeds, it takes about 4-5 hours.
To prepare the oatmeal, soak gluten-free rolled oats overnight with some yogurt. In the morning, drain the water and add enough fresh water to cover. Cook until soft and creamy.
INGREDIENTS
5 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 1 cup shelled pumpkin seeds (chopped) 1 cup sunflower seeds 1 cup cooked and cooled oatmeal 1 cup figs (chopped) 1 cup thawed frozen blueberries (drained) 1 cup pitted dates (softened and chopped) 1 cup flaked (coconut chopped) 1 tsp salt 1 Tbsp cinnamon
PUTTING IT TOGETHER
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 11 x 13 Pyrex dish with parchment paper.
Soak the figs and dates in hot water.
Chop your pumpkin seeds in a food processor or high-speed blender until it is the texture of coarse sand. Pour into a large bowl.
Pulse your sunflower seeds until well chopped but still large pieces. Add to the bowl with the pumpkin seeds.
Chop the flaked coconut until chopped. Or, you can use shredded coconut and skip the chopping step. Add to the bowl with the seeds.
Drain your figs and chop well in the blender along with three eggs. Pour the mixture into the large bowl.
Drain the dates and chop well in the blender along with the remaining eggs. Pour the mixture into the large bowl.
Fold in the oatmeal and stir until well combined.
Stir in the blueberries.
Finally, add your spices and vanilla.
Spread the mixture into your prepared baking dish.
Bake at 350F for 30 min or until lightly brown on top.
Allow batch to cool completely and then slice into bars. Cool completely overnight in the refrigerator and then freeze on a baking sheet. Store the frozen bars in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Baking your own bars is also a big cost saving! Sourcing the ingredients well at quality discount stores like, Thrive Market and Costco allows you to batch cook affordably. These bars are so satisfying that kids fill up on just one. They also don’t want more because there are no added sugars or highly palatable ingredients that override satiety signals. Pretty cool, huh? Now, you see how these are actually more affordable in the long run than the store-bought granola bars.
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