When I heard Foodbuzz was teaming up with Frigidaire and Jennifer Garner to help raise money for the Save the Children Foundation, I knew I had to help. They are trying to inspire families everywhere to roll up their sleeves and get cooking together. You can join Frigidaire Kids’ Cooking Academy to get great recipes, how-to videos and tips, all designed to help involve kids in the kitchen.
When you join, Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children Foundation to help make sure that more children have access to healthy foods. Plus, to help spread the word, everyone who participates will be entered for a chance to win the daily prize, a kids’ apron set, and the grand prize: a new Double Oven Range from Frigidaire. http://www.maketimeforchange.com/
Also, for every blogger who publishes a post with a kid-friendly recipe, $50 will be donated to the Save the Children Foundation. This is where I (and my adorable little brother) come in!
Crazy Healthy Granola Bars
~This granola bar recipe is extremely versatile, and can be made to suit any diet. Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and, of course, sugar-free!
Makes 30 bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup of squash puree (ex. pumpkin, butternut squash, or just throw in a baked sweet potato!)
- 1/2 cup nut butter (peanut butter, almond butter, walnut butter, coconut butter…)
- 2 eggs or egg substitutes (I used a mix of flax egg and chia egg. Mix chia or flax with water and let sit for 20 min)
- 2 cups grains (oats, puffed millet, dry cereal…)
- 2 cups of extra add-ins (dried fruit, chopped nuts, chocolate, spices…)
Preheat oven to 375*. In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients. Feel free to add whatever you want to it. The mixture should stick together when raw. If it does not stick together, simply add more nut butter and squash. You may halve, double, or triple the recipe at your pleasure.
Spread on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until golden and firm. Let it cool for 5 minutes until cutting into bars.
For those stuck on granola bar add ins, try these ideas:
- PB&J bars: peanut butter, chopped peanuts, dried blueberries and strawberries, oats. Eat sandwich style with jelly.
- Elvis Bar: Substitute mashed banana for the squash. Peanut butter, and bacon bits.
- Carrot Cake Bar: oats, shredded carrot, raisins, coconut.
- Alex’s Bar: My favorite combo. Bananas, unsweetened chocolate, and peanut butter. Must I say more?
- Apple Crumble Bar: oats, almond butter, sliced almonds, cinnamon, apple chunks
- Fudge Bars: Take all the chocolate and cacao you have in the house and dump it into the batter with cocoa powder.
- Reese’s Bars: Chocolate and Peanut butter.
- Gingersnap Bars: almond butter, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg.
Your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, friends, and adorable siblings will love creating their own healthy, sugar-free granola bars! Let them search through the grocery store for their favorite ingredients, and help them learn the difference between healthy and unhealthy foods. If your child can read, teach them how to identify “bad” ingredients from the ingredients list.
They will have so much fun using their hands to mix the ingredients together. Just make sure they wash their hands first! While the granola bars are baking, help them create labels to individually wrap their bar creations. They will have fun with naming their own special bar and creating a fun label with paper, crayons, markers, pencils, stickers, and tape. I named my first batch “Crazy Bar” because I literally tossed in any nut, grain, fruit, or unsweetened chocolate piece I could find in my cupboard!
These granola bars are the perfect snack for the young and old. Instead of reaching for a candy bar, grab this tasty, unsweetened treat to satisfy your hunger cravings. Kids will more likely eat their own creations anyway 😉
Now you go have fun, and make some healthy granola bars while teaching the little ones around you how to be healthy! If they start forming good habits now, they can stay healthy throughout their life.
Note: it is best to keep the bars refrigerated because they will last longer.
Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:
Is there a little kid in your life who you would make granola bars with and teach them healthy eating habits?
Also, what is your favorite granola bar flavor (if you like granola bars)?
yes, I have 2 beautiful daughters who I can make these for
My fave is chocolate!
Great post! I love the motivation behind this idea! I totally agree with this: “If they start forming good habits now, they can stay healthy throughout their life.” So true!!
Love your crazy bars! I am definitely not picky when it comes to granola bars! I like em all!
I need to make these with my sister! Yes, my favorite is peanut butter with carob chips. 🙂
i love these bars!! i could make them with… my mom!.. hahah
YEAH! Moms need granola, too 🙂
I don’t like store bought granola bars, but I love homemade ones! I think my dad would love these too, and if I could only get my brother to eat them…….. 😉
Alex, this is awesome! I love your basic, easily-modifiable recipes. Next time I’m craving granola bars I will be sure to check this recipe out. 🙂
Great post, Alex! I actually was trying to find a good granola bar recipe the other day, this is perfect! My brothers love to help me in the kitchen, they will love this! Especially when I tell them they can pick what they want in them!
I love how your brother is covered in flour, too funny!
I hope you like it, Kayla! Tell me what crazy combination you use!
Those look amazing! I also love the healthy and creative add-in ideas. (Also, thanks for reminding me that I need to work on a kid-friendly post for this cause!)
These are AWESOME alex! I made some granola bars a while back ago but these are super different! I wanna try em…
These are amazing looking! I have 2 cousins and a brother who would love making their own granola bars! I think we’ll attempt to make these the next time I have to babysit, instead of letting them run wildlike usual… 😉
I had no idea about that Foodbuzz thing! Neat – honestly I think any of my recipes could be kid-friendly…I’m a kid at heart 😉
Your little brother IS adorable! 🙂
You are quite the genius 🙂 Squash puree? I never thought of that but it sounds healthy and delicious!! I would probably make “Alex’s bar” hehe, great bellies think alike 😉
Haha! Yeah…We should call it the “Nix bar”…..get it? Nicky+ALex=Nix…I’m so corny…..
I just generally looove granola bars and yours look super!
And I love that pictuer of your brother, haha 🙂 too cute.
I love that you made these with your little brother 🙂
My favorite granola is clearly PB & Choc!
Forget the kids. I want this for myself 😉 I’ve been looking for some granola bars. Thanks. I’ve made some granola recently… http://www.healthymealsforless.blogspot.com Have a good one!
This is seriously awesome! How cute and wonderful the idea!
Hey Alex, I just found your blog today and am loving all your wonderful sugar-free recipes! These granola bars look fun and easy to make. Definitely going to try them out especially since I have some pumpkin in my fridge 🙂
Hi Christine!
I’m so glad you found my blog and enjoy it. The granola bars are really easy to make, and they taste delicious! Have fun!
I just made these and they turned out awesome!
I used canned mandarin oranges, pumpkin, and chopped peanuts, but I didn’t add pb or the eggs.
Thank you so much for the great base recipe!
I just made these and I love them. I used pumpkin/creamy peanut butter/cinnamon/dried apples – YUM! Next time I will add lots of nuts but I was making these for my son who doesn’t like the crunch. Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
So glad you liked them, Christine!
Great recipe- made these yesterday. They didn’t get very crunchy – should they? I did bake in a cake pan instead of a cookie sheet, so that may have been why…looking forward to trying all sorts of combinations!
Hey Nicole!
Glad you tried them! This is more of a soft granola bar recipe, so mine did not get crunchy. If you want a crunchy bar I would suggest baking them, then cutting them in desired shape, then lay them out individually with space between back on the cookie sheet, and then bake (or even broil for a couple minutes?) until crispy.
Love this post. I will be featuring a variation of it(banana and peanut butter with unsweetened chocolate) on my blog on Sunday.
how long will this last for when cooked? and could i freeze them???
Amy,
It will last a few days room temperature, about a week or a bit more in the refrigerator, and a month or two in the freezer.
Finally something that’s really yummy, good for you and the recipe actually WORKS! Thank you so much for sharing this. Just made my first batch and I will def be making more. One question: you mentioned this makes about 30 pieces – how big are you saying? I only managed to get 20 out of mine. Just interested!
Emily,
So glad you enjoyed them! Honestly, I don’t really know how big my slices were because it has been a while since I made these-sorry!
If you add in the chocolate these aren’t really sugar free then are they? I used unsweetened chocolate but it didn’t go over very well with the kiddos… Any suggestions?
Danielle,
Unsweetened chocolate is sugar-free, but no, if you add regular chocolate it would not be sugar-free. You can always try dried fruit pieces if you want to keep it sugar-free? Or simply add a couple of dark chocolate chips that are low in sugar. You could also try unsweetened carob which is naturally sweet.
Made banana, peanutbutter, raisins….. Delicious
Also made apple, cinnamon, raisin, almond butter and sugar free apple sauce….. Excellent recipe…thank YOU, Shelly
I just want to say my boyfriend is a super skinny guy who is really picky about eating only “healthy” food but lives on processed-sugar filled granola bars he gets by the truck load. I found this recipe and made two batches this weekend – no sugar, no honey, no splenda, just dried fruit, nuts, chia seeds, egg, pumpkin, and oats. It was really easy, and I’m looking forward to trying different variations. I especially loved the “pop” of the chia seeds!
Liz,
Sounds great! Your boyfriend is lucky to have such a great influence of you in his life 😉
Dear Alex, I am loving reading your recipes and I am loving your site.I made these granola bars yesterday and i think they are absolutely fantastic (downside: I can’t stop eating them!).
I just wanted to thank you for your magnificent work and I think you are just gorgeous.
Good luck for your future, it will be bright, just like you.
Hi love this idea! What squash do you use in your apple crumb bar? Do you use applesauce? How to store these and how long? Thanks!
Lanie,
Yes, use applesauce. These are best stored in the fridge for about a week. You can also try freezing them for later.
Hi. Thanks for the amazing recipe, just wondering what I could substitute the nut butter for as unfortunately my sons school is nut free?
Elleycay,
You can try subbing seedbutter (like sunbutter) if your school allows that. If not, try upping the applesauce and add a tablespoon or two of oil. Good luck!