Raw superfood granola bars

As I wrote in this post, muesli/granola bars are one of my absolute favorite snacks to bring with me when I am in a hurry or when I have to eat on the go, but unfortunately the store-bought granola bars are often full of processed sugar, unhealthy fat and other nasties. While it is possible to find store-bought granola bars that are actually organic, unprocessed and healthy, they are usually super expensive and since I am on a somewhat limited budget I prefer to make my own.

These homemade granola bars are tasty, super filling, full of nutrient packed superfoods and the best part is that you know exactly what is in them – no added nasties! With this recipe you can add whatever seeds, nuts and dried fruit that you like and have available. If you are trying to avoid nuts then you can easily just add more seeds and vice versa, this is one of the most adaptable recipes I have posted and you can pretty much change up all the dry ingredients as long as you stick to the same amounts of dry to wet ingredients as in the recipe.

Ingredients:
1 cup dates, packed
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup mixed seeds (I used chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and ground flaxseeds)
1/2 cup mixed roughly chopped nuts (I used almonds, cashews and pistachios)
1/2 cup mixed dried fruit (I used goji berries, raisins, chopped apricots and mulberries)
1/2 – 1 teaspoon cinnamon – optional
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger – optional
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

Directions:

1. Start by adding the dates to a food processor and pulse until you get a gooey paste.
2. Add the date paste, coconut oil, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, cinnamon and ginger to a bowl -adjust the amounts of spices to your liking, I added 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger.
3. Mix everything well and make sure to knead the ingredients together until everything is well mixed and you have a cohesive dough.
4. Line a pan, plastic container or whatever you have available with baking paper or plastic foil for easy removal and add the dough – make sure you press it in real tight and leave it in the freezer for at least an hour to harden.
5. Now, all there is left to do is to cut it into bars of your desired size (I got 12 bars from this) and they’re ready to eat, enjoy!

Note: Store them in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer, they should keep two weeks when stored in the fridge.