Okay, I'm obsessed with these no-bake granola bars from Wholesomeicious. They're hella quick and easy to make, delicious, filling, healthy, and customizable!
The first time I made them, I followed the recipe completely and I had no complaints. But, since I've been making them every single week since the summer, I've come up with plenty of variations and substitutions. My two staples that I change up pretty much every time are:
- I cut the honey in half to 1/4 cup, and add 1/4 cup coconut oil in its place. That way I am cutting calories and sweetener while adding healthy fatty acids, but still providing enough liquid to hold the bars together. (Since coconut oil is mostly solid at room temperature, I think they hold up better than with just honey!)
- Side note: my Mom hates all things coconut and can usually tell when something's been cooked in coconut oil (even popcorn). I had her try one of these, completely forgetting about the presence of coconut oil, and she didn't seem to notice!
- I use 2 Tbsp flaxseed powder and 2 Tbsp chia seeds
- I used unsweetened shredded coconut instead of flakes because it's usually easier to find
- I make sure my nut butter does not have any added sugar - important since I'm trying to cut back on my sugar intake!
- I always cut them into 12 pcs in an 8" x 8" dish. I find this to be the perfect size in terms of tiding me over between meals. I originally did 8 pcs and that was a bit too filling; I think 16 pcs would be too much of a tease!
- adding 2 Tbsp or so of cocoa powder to the peanut butter/honey/coconut oil (it won't distribute very well if you add it to the dry ingredients)
- swapping out the almonds for cashews or pistachios (my faves - but if you like pecans, walnuts, or peanuts better, use 'em!)
- playing with the nut butters - I've used almond, peanut, and sunflower seed. All are good, but the sunflower seed butter definitely stands out as the most salty flavor. If you don't care about calories or sugar content, you could try Nutella, too!
- mixing up the dried fruit: I've used dried cranberries and raisins as well as cherries. I wouldn't be opposed to using chopped dried fig or even something more high-profile like apricot or something!
- cutting out the coconut flakes because sometimes I run out and forget to buy more - I haven't found that I needed to add any extra solids to make up for the loss.
- one time I forgot to add the quinoa and they were still very good, but there was less crunchiness to them.
Some Variant Recipes I've done:
- Green Tea: This one didn't work as well as I wanted it to. I used almond butter and added close to 1/4 cup of green tea powder, which turned it an AWFUL color, but I can pretty much only taste the almond butter - there's like no green tea flavor at all. I used cashews, raisins, and white chocolate chips in this one. Luckily the white chocolate flavor stands out!
- Butterscotch Delight: I bought some butterscotch infused peanut butter from the farmer's market in the fall and used butterscotch chips instead of chocolate. I think I used raisins for the fruit that time, and cashews for the nuts. It was SUPER yummy!
- Holiday Orange: This one was a result of me being bored and experimental. I think I had sunflower seed butter at the time, but it might have been peanut butter. I added about 1/2 tsp or so of orange extract as well as the vanilla, and a pinch of ground cloves in addition to the cinnamon. I swapped out the honey for maple syrup, which made them a bit more gooey and melty than usual. And I had raisins and cashews at the time, but if I'd planned ahead, I would have preferred dried cranberries and pecans.
- UPDATE 2/2/21 Mint Chocolate Chip: I used mostly peanut butter but had to top off with about 2-3 Tbsp almond butter; pistachios and raisins; mini semi-sweet chocolate chips AND white chocolate; and added 1/2 tsp pure peppermint extract. That was probably a bit too much peppermint. It's not bad, but I can't really taste anything else in the bars. Next time I'd cut it down to 1/4 tsp.
I've also thought about making a mint chocolate chip variety, using cocoa powder and mint extract and mini chocolate chips, but I'm not sure what kind of nut butter would be best with that. I'd probably use pistachios for the nuts though! Yeah, as above: 1/4 tsp of pure peppermint extract should be plenty.
TMI side note because it's me: I poop a lot when I eat one of these every day. Also, uncooked quinoa comes out looking very much the same as it does on the way in. So do chia seeds. It's not a bad thing, and in fact my BMs have felt so much easier and healthier since I started eating these all the time!
