Save money by adding homemade gluten free Granola Bars to your selection of grab-and-go snacks. Whether you pop them in your lunch bag, pack them for a road trip or enjoy them right out of the freezer like I do, these bars will save you money and add variety to your diet.
Although it can be challenging to find safe nuts and seeds (check out Royal Nuts in Canada) these granola bars are made with real fruit, nuts and seeds. If you're looking for more whole food snacks mix it up by adding these granola bars, Coconut Date Energy Balls and even homemade granola, to your list of go-to snacks.
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🍑 Ingredients
This recipe is great for increasing variety in my diet. Aim for 30 plants a week and use this recipe to easily increase the number of fruits, nuts and seeds you eat.
- gluten free oats
- brown sugar
- EGFG gluten free flour blend (sweet rice flour, potato starch, sorghum flour, millet flour)
- cinnamon
- nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, cashews or pistachios)
- dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, apricots or dates)
- seeds (sesame, sunflower, flax or pumpkin)
- oil
- peanut butter
- honey or maple syrup
- egg
- vanilla
See recipe card for exact amounts.
✍🏻 Instructions for Making Two Batches
I always make two pans of these bars at the same time. I don't double the recipe, I make them side by side so each pan has different ingredients.
Originally I did this to experiment with the results using different flours. Now I most often use my everyday EGFG flour blend and change everything else. Here's how I organize myself.
- Print the recipe, draw a line down the middle of the white space and set it on the counter in front of me.
- Grab two pans and two bowls, one on each side of me.
- Pull out all my nuts, dried fruit and seeds.
- As I go I record what I put in each bowl making sure I use at least one ingredient in one batch only. If I can see pumpkin seeds then I can look at my recipe and see which version had them.
I've compared this recipe with honey and maple syrup and with many different flours. Whether it's a mystery flour that ended up in my cupboard (that should have been labeled 😉), one I'm trying to use up (hello coconut flour) or the last bit of a blend I mixed up for a specific recipe, anything goes.
Some switches are too cake like but the worst that can happen is they fall apart and you have to eat them with a fork. They're always edible and tasty.
🥜 Substitutions
Peanut Butter - Substitute other nut butters, including no nut butter for peanut butter. The consistency of nut butters vary so the results will vary too. Experiment and learn what works for you.
Flour Blend - Whenever you substitute a different gluten free flour blend the results will vary. I've made this recipe using brown rice flour, oat flour and even teff flour (as a single flour) with varying results. The taste is always good but they stick together the best when I use my EGFG gluten free flour blend.
🍫 Variations
My friend Sue Jennett, of a Canadian Celiac Podcast, is an adventurous baker and likes to experibake! This made up word captures the mindset of having fun in the kitchen and this is the attitude gluten free cooks can adopt.
In the recipe I've provided numerous ingredients for you to vary these bars. Feel free to steal ideas from any bars you've ever seen or eaten. Here are some for chocolate lovers or bored children who like playing with their food.
- Cut into rectangles and dip the tops in a coating of melted chocolate or dip triangle pieces in chocolate half way.
- Drizzle two kinds of melted chocolate in any pattern on the top.
- I see people experimenting with yogurt topping too.
🤦🏻♀️ Equipment
Cooks need tools and baking pans are the work horses in many kitchens. Good quality pans can last decades so buy decent quality and get the sizes you like. (Please don't use a knife to cut in a metal pan. That's just not nice.)
I use my two 8-inch square baking pans to make coffee cake, layer cakes, double recipes, compress my sushi pizza and on and on.
💡 Top Tip
Buy dried fruit and nuts in larger quantities. This can sometimes decrease the cost by half. This should be motivation for you to bake so collect and handful of recipes that use these ingredients in different ways.
Gluten Free Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups gluten free oats
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup EGFG gluten free flour blend (brown rice flour, oat flour, teff flour or a blend)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
FRUIT, NUTS & SEEDS
- 1 cup nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, cashews or pistachios)
- 1 cup dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, apricots or dates)
- ½ cup seeds (sesame, sunflower, flax or pumpkin)
WET INGREDIENTS
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup peanut butter
- ⅓ cup honey (or maple syrup)
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl mix together oats, sugar, flour, salt and cinnamon.
- Add nuts, fruit and seeds to the above, stir to combine.
- In a 2-cup liquid measuring cup combine oil, peanut butter and honey. Microwave for 30-60 seconds, whisk until smooth.
- Add egg and vanilla to liquid and whisk again.
- Pour liquid into dry ingredients and stir until combined. Press firmly into prepared pan and bake in 350°F oven for 25-30 minutes.
- Cool completely on wire rack. These are easiest to cut if they have been refrigerated. Cut into 16 bars and store in airtight container or freeze.
Notes
Let me know in the comments below if you tried this recipe and what you learned.
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