No-Bake Granola Bars {Gluten Free}

After watching the Bear and the Bird chow down on a prepackaged granola bar in Target and THEN looking at the ingredients I thought there has got to be a better way! The ingredients were unacceptable for a healthy snack.  

I am all about splurging on a fun/unhealthy snack on occasion but I can't stand when a snack masquerades as "healthy." Looking at labels is a must for me since I can't tolerate gluten and we generally do most of our shopping at stores that don't intentionally trick you into buying something "all-natural," "healthy" and so on.

When the kiddos and I arrived home we lively chatted about what ingredients we would need to create a delicious and slightly naughty granola bar.  A granola bar whose healthy ingredients trump the naughty ingredients. See what we came up with recipe below:

No-Bake Granola Bar {Gluten Free}

3 cups oats
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks
1/2 cup coconut oil (warmed to a liquid)
1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
2 tablespoon sweetener (I used honey) 

Mix all ingredients well in a large mixing bowl. Spoon into a muffin tin cups and flatten down with the bottom of the spoon until the cups are half filled.  Refrigerate for an hour and they are ready to eat!  Keep them refrigerated until you are ready to eat!

The fiber in the oats and the benefits of the coconut definitely outweigh the minimal chocolate and sweetener. Half of a bar is a perfect late night snack and also a post-nap treat!

Gluten Free Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Cookies

While meandering through the Trader Joe's website looking for new and exciting dinner ideas I discovered that Trader Joe's has gluten-free recipes!

I have been making flourless cookies as of late and find them to be super fulfilling for an evening snack.  I got all the ingredients for these today but have to wait for my baking buddy, The Bear, to wake up from his nap! The Bear loves cookies especially ones with chocolate in them. Pictures and taste-testing results to come!

http://traderjoes.com/recipes/recipe.asp?rid=199

• 2 very ripe TJ's Bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup TJ’s Creamy Unsalted Almond Butter
• 1 tsp TJ’s Pure Vanilla Flavor
• 1 tsp TJ’s Organic Blue Agave Sweetener
• 1 cup TJ’s Gluten Free Rolled Oats
• 1 TJ’s Belgian Dark Chocolate with Almond Bar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine mashed banana, almond butter, vanilla and agave. Slowly add oats to the mixture. Break chocolate bar into small pieces and add to mixture. For each cookie drop a tablespoon of mixture onto a cookie sheet. Bake for approximately 14 minutes.

Serves: 12
Cooking Time: 20 Minutes

Kid tested and APPROVED!

Notes from the recipe:

• I substituted peanut butter instead of almond butter
• I substituted brown sugar for their sweetener
• We used semi-sweet chocolate chips... and LOTS of them
• Recipe does not require eggs so we were free to sample our product right up until it was cooked!

*Parchment Paper is where it's at... just discovered it in the last year. It cooks everything evenly and makes for easy clean-up. Woot woot!

One last thing: I rarely ever follow a recipe exactly as it was intended.  In the last year, I started cooking and baking from instinct and experience and my food has gotten exponentially better.  I generally use a recipe as a jumping off point and have fun from there.  I'm pretty certain my mom has never used a recipe in her life. J/K... maybe once or twice.

Enjoy!

The Bear & the Bird

 The Bear is three and he likes monster trucks, chocolate, and his blow-up pool.

This is the Bird and she is one. She enjoys her doggies, cheese, and anyone's shoes.