Vegan Granola Bars

I've been trying to think of a semi-healthy snack that is portable

 and that I can always have on hand for the two boys in my house.

 I had a hard time thinking of something that wasn't processed

{or contained a million chemical ingredients}

and then it came to me

....granola bars!

I looked all over for the perfect recipe

 when I found this one over at Your Vegan Mom's blog.

I made a few changes to the recipe and they turned out delicious...both boys approved!

Here is the recipe that I used:

2 cups rolled oats
1 cup white whole wheat flour (or all-purpose if you don't have it)
1/4 cup flax meal
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used a mixture of chocolate and peanut butter chips)
3/4 cup craisin trail mix (contains, crasins, raisins, dried fruit, pumpkin seeds and almonds)

1/4 cup sunflower seeds - roasted and salted

3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup canola oil

1/8 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup mara natha organic peanut butter

1/4 honey (or light corn syrup, or brown rice syrup)

2 teaspoons high grade maple syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup water

Heat the oven to 350 and grease an 8 x 8 inch baking pan (I used a 9 x 13 inch pan and there was more than enough to spread around).  In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (the oats through salt).  Make a well in the center and pour in the wet ingredients (all the rest).  Stir to combine and spread this mixture out in your prepared baking pan.  Bake for 20 minutes or  until the edges are just turning brown (it took mine closer to 25 minutes - surprising since my bars were spread out in a thinner layer).  Remove from the oven. Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting into bars.  Store in an airtight container for several days or freeze for longer storage.  

They're not overly sweet, they don't crumble and travel well in a plastic baggie or in a container - the perfect on the go snack!

{Success!}

Enjoy!!