My goal in writing this blog is to learn more about eating healthy…based on ther Raw Foods Pyramid…
So where in the heck do I get off writing about totally unhealthy apple fritters?
Time to get back on track…
The perfect apple granola bars are dense, chewy, and totally delicious…packed with heart-healthy old fashioned oats, tons of cinnamon, and fresh apples.
Not only that…the perfect apple granola bars will totally flood your kitchen with the sweetest fall scent…something we all need when it’s 100 degrees and you’ve been stuck at home with corona and ordered to wear face masks from now to eternity, right
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Ingredients
Apples…1/2C diced dried apples or 2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced…Make sure that you cut the apples into very tiny pieces—pieces that are no larger than the size of miniature chocolate chips. Bigger chunks will cause the granola bars to fall apart.
Oats…1-1/4C oats
Rice Cereal…½C
Nuts and Extras…1C…Feel free to add extra ingredients—such as pecans, walnuts, almonds\, cashews, coconut flakes, flaxseed, or dried fruit for a different flavoft/
Spices…Use whatever spices you choo se—such 1 Tbsp cinnamon..…1/8 tsp allspice4 teaspoonground nutmeg…1/4 \tspcardamom
Salt…1/2 tsp sea salt fine grain (or 1/4 for less salty
Buttet..1/4C—such as nut butter cashew or almond
Sweetener…1/4C + 2Tbsp pure maple syrup or honey…or 1/3C loosely packed light brown sugar…or 3Tbsp syrup, honey, agave syrup, or brown rice syrup
Vanilla…1tsp pure vanilla extract
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Instructions
Prep Work…Preheat oven to 350. Prepare an 8” square pan by spraying it with nonstick spray and lining it with parchment paper, leaving excess hanging over the sides for easy removal later.
Dry Ingredients…Combine dry ingredients—flour, oats, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, chia seeds, nuts, rice cereal, flax seeds. coconut flakes, and dried apples or grated apples.
Wet Ingredients…Whisk wet ingredients—milk, applesauce, maple syrup, milk or Greek yogurt, honey, melted butter or coconut oil, egg, and vanilla—in another bowl. Pour the wet mixture into the large bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir with a silicone spatula to fully combine, Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Press mixture evenly into the bottom of the baking dish, using the back of a spoon or a piece of parchment paper.
Baking…Bake 35 minutes…until the edges are golden brown and the center has set.
Let cool in the baking dish for 15 minutes. Lift the bars out of the pan by grasping the excess parchment and lifting them out. Place on a cutting board. Cut into 16 bars. Bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to four days
