Homemade granola bars are a great way to pack a little extra nutrition (with less sugar) into the kids lunch boxes.
Ingredients
10 ml
Egg replacer, powder, Bob's Red Mill
(2 tsp + 4 tbsp water; or whatever is equivalent to 2 eggs)
2 tbsp
Flaxseed meal (ground)
(divided)
8 tbsp unpacked
Brown sugar
(1/2 cup unpacked)
2 tbsp
Butter, grass fed, unsalted
(cold)
3/4 cup
Wheat flour, whole wheat
1 1/2 cup
Rolled oats, dry
1/4 tsp
Sea salt, fine
1 tsp
Cinnamon
2 tsp
Orange peel (zest)
1/3 cup pitted
Dates
(chopped)
1/2 cup
Dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup hulled
Sunflower seeds
1/4 cup hulled
Hemp seeds, shelled
1/4 cup
Orange juice
(freshly squeezed)
1 tsp
Vanilla extract, pure
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F and line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper.
In a small bowl combine egg replacer (2 teaspoons powder with 4 tablespoons water) with 1 tablespoon ground flax seed. Mix well and set aside for 5-10 minutes while you get the rest of your ingredients together.
In a large bowl add brown sugar and butter. Using a pastry blender, cut butter (or Earth Balance) into the sugar until you have coarse crumbs. Add flour, oats, salt and cinnamon and mix gently.Add dates, orange rind, chocolate chips sunflower and hemp seeds and stir to combine.
To the dry ingredients, add egg replacer, remaining tablespoon of ground flax seed, orange juice and vanilla and mix well to fully incorporate.
Press mixture into an 8X8 square baking dish. Bake at 350°F for 18-20 minutes. Edges will be slightly browned.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before removing from pan and cutting into 12 squares.
