Vegan Almond Granola Bars

If you are looking for a quick breakfast to grab or a healthy snack, this granola bars are without sugar, sweetened by dates and full of oats and almonds!

Like in most Europe, the heatwave has arrived to Vienna and we are experiencing nice sunny days, with a feeling of an early summer.

With this heat I was looking for something quick to make for breakfast and that most importantly didn't require the use of the oven. It needed also to be easy to grab and eat on my commute to work, or to have as a snack in the afternoon after work and before doing some sport.

So what is more perfect that granola bars? This recipe is very simple with few ingredients, like oats, dates and almonds, but you can adapt it to your needs. You can keep the base of the bars, that is composed by dates and oats and substitute the almonds with the nut of your choice, like hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts and you can add more dried fruits (around 50g), like apricots, goji berries, banana chips or a tablespoon of flax seeds, wheat bran or chocolate chips, practically let your creativity run free!

I have decided to go plain just with almonds, as I have bought a lot of them that don't particularly enjoy eating them alone, and given that I am not a big fun of sugary thing I have just added two tablespoon of maple syrup to my recipe, but if you are more of a sweet tooth I would suggest you add slightly more. The final result is a chewy, flavorful and healthy vegan granola bar.

The bars are easy to make but the only tool you need is a quite good food processor to chop the dates and process them until they form into a ball; usually very good dates should not give you any problem, but if so try to soak the dates in hot water for 5 minutes.

I would suggest to keep the bars refrigerate if you live in a warm climate.

Ingredients

150g rolled oats

200g almonds

220g dates

2 tbsp peanut butter

2 tbsp maple syrup

Method

1. Blend the dates in the food processor until a ball is formed

2. Chopped the almonds in different size pieces (they will add a nice texture to the bar)

3. Add the oat, the chopped almonds, the peanut butter , the maple syrup and the blended dates in a bowl

4. Mix everything until everything is incorporated. I suggest you mix it with your hands

5. Line a baking dish with parchment paper and spread the mixture.

6. Refrigerate it for at least one hour before cutting it

7.Enjoy

Ciao

Chiara