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I love granola bars but find them very hard to buy. If they are gluten free, they also tend to be nutrition free and school unfriendly.

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So here is a recipe that is fit for the season. Chewy pumpkin granola bars. As a bonus, maple syrup is the only sweetener in them 🙂

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups gluten free rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
  • 1/4 cup hemp hearts
  • 1/4 cup chocolate chips (this could easily be more oats, raisins, more seeds…whatever works for you)
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon2015-10-17 11.39.49
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • Mix all the dry ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl.
  • Mix wet into a small mixing bowl another.
  • Combine wet and dry ingredients well so all the oats get coated.
  • Line a 11×8 baking pan with parchment paper (or whatever size you’d like really).  Use enough paper to hang over the sides so that you can pull them out when they are done.
  • Press them down firmly so they are flat.
  • Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.  Let the bars cool completely before cutting.

Use a large sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut them into bars. Wrap in plastic wrap to freeze for easy and fast snacks.