I was looking for something for Amber’s lunchbox. Something different that I could pop in the freezer in little bags and have ready to grab in the morning to put in her lunch box. I came up with the idea of a granola bar for her, so the search was on for a recipe. I did not have to look far as I first went to a recipe book that I helped put together when I was nursing many years ago. In there was a great recipe for granola bars by Shelley McDonald. With a few tweaks, omissions and additions, here is what I came up with. They are absolutely fabulous and only today will two of them make it into her lunch box as the entire recipe has been devoured by all. I will have to make this again as they are so very good and so very easy!! They are a treat as they are not light in fat or sugar but do have health benefits as I added hemp for a nutty flavor and omitted the nuts so they are safe at school. I added two berries and omitted the raisins from the original recipe.
They are gluten free too if you buy the right oatmeal that hasn’t been cross contaminated with flour. A delicious snack for any time of the day and they stay fresh in a sealed container for many days.
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 56 gm. package hemp hearts
- 1 cup sunflower seeds
- 1 cup dried blueberries
- 1 cup Craisins
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
- ½ cup melted butter
- Preheat oven to 325F. Line a 15×10″ pan with foil and grease foil. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Press evenly into pan. Bake for 25-30 min. or until lightly browned. Cool and then remove from pan. Peel off foil and cut into bars. Store at room temperature in a sealed container.
Adapted from a recipe by Shelley McDonald
What are hemp hearts? Is there something else I can sub?
I just found them at the grocery store but if you don’t have problems with nuts you can add walnuts, pecans etc.
Can a granola bar be beautiful? If so, then yours wins! Thanks for sending the link to me – I’m looking at all baked granola bars now. This is the second one I’ve seen today with hemp hearts. I know I cooked with hemp in school, but I don’t remember much about it, and nothing about hemp hearts. I’m allergic to nuts, as it my husband, so this could be something I should be looking into!
If my daughter is taking them to school she can’t have peanuts or tree nuts in them, so I thought the hemp hearts would add a nice nutty flavor to them.