Gluten-Free Granola Bars
- 1 1/2 cups gluten free oats
- 1/2 cup dried unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1/4 to 1/2 cups dried fruit, chopped into small pieces
- 3 tablespoons sunflower seed butter
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup or brown rice syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch sea salt
- 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
- 1/2 cup coconut milk (or your favorite non-dairy drinking "milk")
- Mix everything but the coconut milk together really well in a bowl. Make sure sunflower butter is fully blended - I have found using my fingers and rubbing it together with my fingers like making pie crust works great to get the sunflower butter fully blended. You can also just pulse a few times in your food processor - it will help the bars stay together but don't over whiz or you will miss the nice chunky bits.
- Add the coconut milk and stir all together.
- Soak all ingredients with the coconut milk for about 30 minutes.
- Spread out on dehydrator sheet liner, compacting it into a block of even mix, about 8" x 8".
- Using a piece of parchment paper and a rolling pin can help form a solid smooth rectangle.
- Gently press a knife into the block to pre-mark 8 - 10 rectangles, not pushing all of the way through, but enough to score so that they can easily be separated when dry.
- Dehydrate on medium heat for 4-6 hours and then gently remove the block from the liner so air can better circulate and continue to dry another few hours until crispy.
- Break gently along the scores. Store in airtight container.
- ++You can bake these in an oven if you don't have a dehydrator. Just press into a parchment lined pan so it is compact, score the mix, and bake on a low temperature until crispy...not very long, not very hot!
- ++To make granola, crumble the bars or chop roughly with a knife after they have dried and cooled.
- Try different combinations - pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, different dried fruit - just keep your fruit/seeds to 1/2 cup or less and chop them into small bits if there are larger pieces. I love dried cherries, cranberries, peaches, blueberries - pick your favorite combo!
oats, coconut flakes, dried fruit, sunflower seed butter, maple syrup, ground cinnamon, salt, vanilla bean, coconut milk
Taken from food52.com/recipes/28059-gluten-free-granola-bars (may not work)