Granola Bars (Weight Loss Treat!)

Embark on your weight loss journey while still enjoying your food with these Granola Bars!

What’s to love about making granola bars at home? You can use your favorite ingredients to make a healthy recipe of your own. Every bite will be bursting with the best flavors you can ask for.

It’s perfect for an energizing breakfast, a filling snack, or even a tasty dessert. Serve granola to your family to get everyone into a fit and active lifestyle!

You don’t even need an oven or stove to make these treats. Make your weight loss journey more fun and exciting with these Granola Bars!

How to Make Granola Bars

There’s nothing more satisfying than a guilt-free granola bar to save the day. Can you believe that these no-cook granola bars can give you the best quality imaginable?

Once you try these, you will surely be making them more often!

Ingredients

Are you looking for the top ingredients to use for Granola Bars? Look no further because here’s a list you can refer to.

Jumbo oats

When you eat jumbo oats alone, they may taste bland. But the real fun starts when you mix them with dried fruits, nuts, and seeds.

Jumbo oats are usually soaked in water or milk for a mushy and soft consistency. In this recipe, the oats will have a chewy and crunchy texture.

There are many ways to make jumbo oats tasty and appetizing. Here are some of the best recipes I can suggest:

• Peanut Butter Granola Bars
• Chocolate Granola Bars
• Granola
• Overnight Oats
• Oats Breakfast Smoothie
• Oat Flour

Nuts

It won’t be a granola recipe without nuts. My top suggestions for nuts include cashews, almonds, and pine nuts.

Cashews have a mild and creamy flavor with a firm yet buttery texture. Meanwhile, almonds taste sweet and bitter and feel chewy and crisp. On the other hand, pine nuts are nutty and sweet with a soft quality.

Not only are these nuts flavorful, but they are also loaded with health benefits. These nuts can help with weight loss, brain function, immunity, energy, vision, and skin.

Aside from adding them to granola bars, you can also use nuts t make the following recipes:

• Almond Butter
• Cashew Butter
• Almond Milk
• Almond Loaf Cake
• Almond Oil
• Green Smoothie

Seeds

If you want to add more health benefits and texture to your granola bars, then make sure to add seeds. I suggest using pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and chia seeds.

Pumpkin seeds have a nutty and earthy flavor, whereas sesame seeds taste mildly sweet and nutty. Meanwhile, chia seeds are usually nutty in flavor.

Don’t be fooled, seeds may be small, but they are packed with the best nutrients. These seeds have a filling effect that can also help with your heart, sleep quality, oral health, and mood.

Banana chips

Not all chips are bad for you. These banana chips have a sweet, vanilla-like, and rich flavor that you will love in granola bars. They also have a crunchy and crisp texture to complement the oats.

According to NDTV, banana chips can help you lose weight effectively. They are also loaded with protein to give you energy. Banana chips truly make some of the best snacks!

Dried mangoes

Can’t get enough dried fruits in your granola bars? Add dried mangoes for a sweet, tarty, and candy-like flavor. When it comes to texture, dried mangoes are chewy and soft.

Aside from adding flavor, dried mangoes also have positive effects on your body. Organic Facts, dried mangoes can be good for your skin, digestion, bones, eyes, and weight loss.

Dried goji berries

When it comes to berries in your granola bars, always go for goji berries! They have a sweet and sour taste with a hint of herbal flavor and a soft and rich texture when eaten.

In this recipe, I suggest using dried goji berries to add a bit of crunch to the dish. An article by Medical News Today mentioned that goji berries are good for your heart, immunity, skin, cancer prevention, mental health, and sleep quality.

Dried cranberries

Give your granola bars a more intensely sweet and sour texture by adding dried cranberries. Just like dried goji berries, the dried cranberries have a soft and chewy texture too.

Not only are dried cranberries tasty, but they are also healthy. According to HealthifyMe, these berries are good for your teeth, digestion, cancer prevention, and weight loss.

Pitted dates

Remember to use pitted dates because they are already seedless and ready for eating. Don’t you just love how sweet, rich, and caramel-like the pitted dates taste?

These pitted dates might even remind you of candies. BBC Good Food shared that pitted dates can have positive effects on your gut health, bones, and immunity.

Honey

Top everything off with honey as your sweetener for a smooth and thick texture of the granola bars. Honey is a good natural sweetener that also adds an aroma to the dish.

Honey can improve your memory, mood, and blood pressure. Even a bit of honey will give you a great concoction of sweet, fruity, and spicy taste. It even has a rich, thick, and smooth texture.

From these ingredients, I’m sure you can already tell that it has the quality of being sweet without making you feel guilty about calories and weight gain! 

Directions

Make the best Granola Bars without breaking a sweat!

1. In a bowl, mix jumbo oats, almonds, cashews, pine nuts, dried cranberries, dried mango, goji berries, dried banana, whole chia seeds, sesame seeds, and pumpkin seeds with a spatula.
2. Set it aside. 
3. In a food processor, blend the pitted dates and honey until smooth.
4. Use a spatula or your hands to mix the two mixtures together.
5. Then, coat the dry ingredients with the honey.
6. Spread the mixture evenly on the tray or granola bar molds.
7. Place parchment paper on top and compress it with a rolling pin or wooden hammer.
8. Refrigerate it for two hours or overnight.
9. Slice the granola bars to your preferred size.
10. Wrap them in parchment paper for storage and on-the-go snacking!

Now, you are ready to add granola goodness to your diet! What a fun, easy, and delicious way to lose weight and stay healthy, right? It’s sweet, nutritious, and utterly satisfying! 

Tips

Jumbo Oats

• According to an article published in Simply Oatmeal, remove as much air as you can before storing the oats in a container or resealable bag.
• Store it in a cool and dry place. 
• You can also keep umbo oats in the fridge or freezer.
• Room temperature storage can make it last up to two years!
• Once opened, transfer the oats into containers or resealable bags. 

Nuts

In an article by The Spruce Eats, you should store nuts away from onions or other foods with powerful odors. Shelled nuts can last up to three months at room temperature, six months in the fridge, and a year in the freezer. 

You can put them in labeled containers or resealable bags. 

Dried Fruits

Store-bought dried fruit may have already been cured with preservatives and additives. To save yourself from harmful substances, why not make your own dried fruits, right? 

Sundried Fruits

Sun-drying fruits are possible if you live in places with high temperatures. Wash, peel (if needed), slice the fruits into your preferred sizes, and spread them evenly on a baking sheet. 

Place them under the sun during the day and bring them back in during the night. This can take up to a week.

Oven-dried Fruits

Prepare the fruits by rinsing, peeling (if needed), and cutting the fruits into your desired method. Then, arrange them evenly on a lined tray. 

In a preheated oven, bake the fruits at 200°F for up to five hours or until the fruits are dry and crispy. You can leave the oven door ajar to allow air inside. Once done, let it stand for 12 hours or overnight before storing. 

Note that thick fruits require more time to dry in the oven. 

Dehydrated Fruits

Wash, peel, and slice the fruits to your liking. You can drizzle a bit of lemon juice over the fruits. Spread them evenly on a dehydrator rack and dehydrate them at 125°F. 

Dehydrating fruits can last up to more than six hours. Once your desired texture is achieved, remove them from the dehydrator and allow them to cool at room temperature. 

How to Store Dried Fruits

To ensure that the fruits are evenly dried, allow them to cool and dry evenly at room temperature before storing. You can put them in jars or resealable bags. Then, place them in a cool and dry area in your kitchen. 

Occasionally shake the containers or bags to prevent fruit slices from sticking together. Every ten days, check the dried fruits for signs of moisture, molds, and insects. 

Dried fruits can last up to several months at room temperature and up to more than a year in the fridge. You can also store them in the freezer to last up to 18 months! 

Granola Bars Variations

These no-oven granola bars are vegan, gluten-free, keto, and dairy-free! However, this is not suitable for people with nut allergies. 

You can use coconut chips or flakes, cereal, dark chocolate, raisins, and wheat germ as a substitute for nuts. You can also use other dried fruits that you like. 

For more granola bar ingredients, here are some of my best suggestions:

• Peanut butter
• Vanilla extract
• Coconut chips
• Cinnamon
• Brown sugar
• Pecans
• Maple syrup
• Dried oranges

Recommended Tools

• Food processor: Use the food processor to make the sweetener. 
• Glass bowl: Combine the ingredients in a deep glass bowl. 
• Spatula: Mix the ingredients together with a spatula. 
• Granola bar molds: Transfer the granola mixture into molds.
• Tray: Let the granola form in a tray.
• Parchment paper: Line the baking pan with baking paper. 
• Rolling pin: Even out the granola mixture on the mold or baking pan. 
• Knife: Prepare the fruits with a knife and use it to slice the granola bars.

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How to Serve Granola Bars

Granola bars are perfect as breakfast meals or snacks for a long day! Just imagine biting into the sweet and crunchy goodness of the granola bars to satisfy your appetite and fuel you with energy! 

They can even serve as substitutes for desserts to enjoy a healthier meal. Moreover, granola bars are great for pre-workout or post-workout meals. You can also eat it with yogurt, fresh fruits, smoothies, and more! 

Here are some of the best drink options you can relish with your granola bars:

• Turmeric Tea
• Pineapple Pomegranate Juice
• Fat Burner Smoothie
• Hibiscus Tea
• Pineapple Juice
• Almond Milk

Storage Tips

The key to storing granola bars is to wrap them in parchment paper. 

• At room temperature: It can last up to several days at room temperature. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Granola Bars healthy?

Granola bars are absolutely healthy, especially if you make them with quality ingredients. In fact, you can even make the dried fruits from scratch for a more nutritious meal. 

With granola bars, you are served with fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals to aid in digestion, metabolism, heart health, eyesight, bone health, blood sugar levels, weight loss, and more! 

What is a granola bar?

The granola bar is a mixture of oats, dried fruits, nuts, seeds, and sweeteners for a balance in flavor and texture. It is a popular weight loss snack because of how filling and energizing it is.

What is granola made of?

The main ingredient of granola is rolled oats or jumbo oats. You can mix in dried fruits such as banana chips, dried mangoes, and dried berries for color and flavor.

There are also nuts and seeds you can add to make the granola bars tastier and healthier. Granola also has a sweetener such as honey, maple syrup, or sugar.

Are granola snacks healthy?

Yes, granola snacks are healthy because they’re made of jumbo oats, fruits, seeds, and nuts. I especially suggest making them at home to make it as healthy as possible.