I find getting my teenagers to eat healthy a little trying at times, I think I may have waited too long before I tried to make healthy eating a staple in my house. My advice to new parents, introduce as many healthy foods to your babies as you can; familiarize them with different fruits and vegetables early.
I admit that we do have store bought snacks in our house but anything that is homemade is usually healthy. Credit to my kids, they do try it all and I usually don’t share the ingredients with them till after they’ve tried it. Mind you, when I am encouraging them to have brownies or cookies they usually guess that it’s a healthy version 😉
These granola bars are one of our successful afterschool snacks and loved by all of us.
Cranberry Nut and Seed Granola Bars
Dry:
- 1 1/2 cup oats
- 1/3 cup almonds
- 1/3 cup walnuts
- 1/3 cup cashews (coarsely chop the almonds, walnuts and cashews)
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
Mix all the above ingredients together and spread out on a lined baking sheet. Bake at 300F for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool.
* This step is optional but I love the smell of roasted nuts and oats.
Add in:
- 1 tbsp. chia seeds
- 1 tbsp. flax seeds
- 1 tbsp. sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and set aside.
Wet:
- 1 cup dates (softened in a warm water for an hour)
Blend with a little water.
In a saucepan on low heat add:
- 1/4 cup pure honey
- 1/4 cup almond butter (or natural peanut butter)
- blended dates
Mix till all ingredients are combined.
Add the wet mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients, mix well till everything is combined.
Transfer the mixture onto a lined tray and pat till flat, mixture will be sticky.
Place the tray in the freezer for 1/2 hour.
Remove tray from freezer and cut into desired size bars.
Keep bars stored in the fridge or freezer.
Enjoy 🙂