Recipe

Granola Bars with Superfood Chocolate

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Granola Bars | @thefauxmartha

“Be somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody.” —Kid President

I need to tattoo this to the inside of my hand. Most days I’m just making sure I feel like a somebody. We have two mirrors in our tiny apartment—one that’s covered in so much dust I don’t have to worry about the reflection as I pass. The other, in the bathroom, I quickly skirt by until the end of the day. That’s when I usually catch a glimpse of the disheveled person walking by.

post-diver

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This post was created in partnership with Aloha, a company dedicating to making high quality nutrition that lifts your spirit, like this organic superfood chocolate bar. Trust me when I say these bars are good. Really good.

post-diver

 

Granola Bars | @thefauxmartha

The other day while at the doctors, they let me know about their botox offering without prompt. “Cool,” I said, believing it was protocol to inform every patient just after discussing their HIPPA rights. I pulled down the overhead mirror as soon as I got in the car. Of course I had lines on my forehead; my brow was furrowed. Certainly they weren’t looking at the same image I recall of myself.

Granola Bars | @thefauxmartha

She was 16, maybe 17. Her teeth were perfectly straight from the months of braces. They were also bright white; she hadn’t discovered coffee yet. Her eyes were alive and taut. Her forehead unblemished along with her thick, straight golden brown hair. She had no need for the concealer she put under her eyes every morning back then.

Granola Bars | @thefauxmartha

Aging is surreal. I’m still plenty young, but I look older than I did 13 years ago. I have lots of grey hairs that I shouldn’t pull out. But I do. Because those grey hairs aren’t mine. But they are.

My friend sent me an article this weekend titled You are Enough. For whatever reason, titles like that turn me off. But I read it. And I heard it. And then I started to feel it. I am enough, even with my grey hairs, facial indentations, and yoga pants/sweatshirt uniform. You’re enough too. And as soon as we can feel it, we have the power to help others feel it too.

Granola Bars | @thefauxmartha

Superfood chocolate bars also make me feel like a somebody. My daily craving now hidden with superfoods (like spirulina, wheat grass, spinach, mushrooms, moringa) is a godsend. Hallie, who can pick even the tiniest speck of spinach out of a meal, is in love with this chocolate. It passes all the tests, as do these Granola Bars with Superfood Chocolate—the ones that have been filling up our countertops and bellies the last couple of weeks. They stick together. They taste good. And they’re filled with nutrients.

Long story short—make granola bars, use superfood chocolate, and make everybody feel like a somebody. But first, believe that you’re a somebody too.

Granola Bars | @thefauxmartha

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Granola Bars with Superfood Chocolate

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  • Yield: 10 bars 1x
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Description

No bake, 30-minute, homemade granola bars (!!). I’ve been trying different granola bar recipes for what feels like years now. Lots of off-flavors and crumbly bars (if you can call them bars). I wanted something reminiscent in flavor to Megan’s granola recipe (a salty cardamom flavor) bound together without using nut-butters (mostly for flavor reasons). I shied away from using butter and brown sugar. But after many many tries, it works consistently. And since I use both butter and sugar in my morning oatmeal, I said to myself, what’s a little more? The method of this recipe comes from Foodess, one of my favorite blogs these days. She nailed it.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp. coarse salt
  • 1/2 tsp. cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
  • 2 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 2 c. brown rice crisps cereal
  • 1/2 c. dried cranberries
  • 1/2 c. pepita seeds, roasted
  • 1/2 c. sliced almonds, raw
  • 1/3 c. unsalted butter
  • 1/3 c. brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 1/3 c. brown rice syrup
  • 2 (2.2 oz) Aloha Superfood Chocolate Bars

Instructions

  1. Into a large sauté pan, add oil, salt, cardamom, and cinnamon. Stir together and turn heat to medium-high. Once warm, add oats. Stir to coat with oil mixture and toast until lightly fragrant, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in brown rice crisps, cranberries, pepita seeds, and almonds. Set aside.
  2. Into a small sauce pan on medium-high heat, combine butter, brown sugar, and brown rice syrup. Stir to combine. Cook until bubbles begin forming on surface. Turn heat down to medium and cook for an additional minute.
  3. Add butter mixture into oat mixture. Stir to evenly combine. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, get out two 9 x 9″ square metal pans. Line one with wax or parchment paper. Chop chocolate bars into chunks.
  5. Once granola bar mixture has cooled, stir in chocolate reserving a couple chocolate chunks.
  6. Pour granola bar mixture into prepared pan. Place the additional pan on top of the granola mixture and press down to compact. Remove and press the remaining chocolate chunks into the top. Press down with the additional pan once more. Place bars in freezer for 15 minutes to cool.
  7. Once cooled, cut bars into fifths using a very sharp knife. Then cut in half. Store bars in a large ziploc bag at room temperature for up to a week.

Notes

Fair warning: aside from the chocolate (which is killer good), substituting ingredients will yield adverse results. The combination of butter, sugar, and syrup are integral in getting the bars to bind.

• For picture perfect bars, be sure to use a pan with squared, not rounded, edges.

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PSST—I’ve been nominated for a Better Homes and Garden blogger award in the Baking and Everyday Eats category. Vote for me if you wish. But either way, vote for someone. There’s so many greats and many of my favorites up there.

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