Nutty Chocolate Raisin Granola Bars (Low Fat)

I love granola bars of all kinds; my favourites are Nature Valley Sweet & Salty, with the Quaker yogurt dipped bars in a close second! Mmm…for a long time I tried buying them for myself but holy mother of pearl, these things rob you penniless!

This is a great versatile granola bar recipe from Gina’s Skinny Recipes that can easily be altered to fit your taste. Also, it’s a lot healthier than any store-bought granola bars. None of that high-fructose corn syrup, modified milk ingredients, or sucraglucodonoxenous gum paste (I just made that up).

The real recipe calls for pecans, but if you didn’t know already, pecans are quite expensive also- I used chopped almonds because that’s what I had on hand, but I do recommend the pecans OR walnuts if you have them, because almonds are very hard nuts, and it makes the bars extremely hard to cut cleanly. Mine broke apart into small pieces so the picture below isn’t the ACTUAL portion size (don’t worry).

Nutty Chocolate Raisin Granola Bars (Low Fat) makes 16 bars

• 1 cup oat flour (you can make your own by grinding oats in food processor)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups quick oats
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup raisins (or cranberries/currants/other dried fruit)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and line an 8”x8” baking pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk the oat flour with baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Using a stand mixer, cream butter with brown sugar, scraping sides of bowl once. Add in the egg, honey, applesauce, and vanilla.

Using your hand, mix in the oat flour mixture and oats and combine until just moistened. Mix in the raisins, chocolate chips, and pecans. Spoon mixture into the baking pan and using the bottom of a glass, flatten the mixture. Bake for 25 minutes.

Cool completely in pan on a wire rack, and then refrigerate before cutting. Using a serrated knife, cut by sawing the knife gently. Cut into 16 bars. Store in an airtight container.