I wanted to treat my husband to something delicious yet not totally rubbish nutrition-wise. I wanted something chewy and chocolaty. Just something that he would like.
He likes chocolate, he likes sweet and treats, he likes granola bars. Oh yeah, granola bars. The chewy ones, the no bake ones… oh yeah he will like me! No scrub that – he will love me!
I personally really like the chocolate in between two layers of granola dough. It’s very delicious and you can keep your hands clean eating them. But judge yourself. I am already hooked <3
- 2 tbsp natural hazelnut butter
- 1 cup pitted dates
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1 pinch of salt
- 3 cups rolled oats
- chocolate as desired (I used Lindt chocolate) - to get a decent chocolate layer I recommend at least 100g
- Give the hazelnut butter, salt and dates in a food processor and blend with high intensity until you have a smooth paste
- In the meantime line a 20 x 30 cm baking tray with plastic wrap
- Add the dry ingredients and blend again on a low intensity until well combined
- Remove the paste from the blender and press lightly into the baking tray - freeze for 10 min or refrigerate for 20 min
- Melt the chocolate
- Cut the dough into two halves, cover one half with chocolate and place the other half on top
- Refrigerate again for 1h
- Cut into desired shape
Store them airtight in your refrigerator up to one week but I can’t seriously imagine they will last so long. We made it through the first batch in 2 days. Perfect for breakfast, as a snack or as dessert. They always hit the spot! Stefan even mused if it was possible to live of those bars only 😀
And I use this lovely. It’s so easy you just have to place the bottle in a pot with hot water for a few minutes, then you can squeeze out the chocolate you need and let cool the remaining chocolate for further use. So easy and totally mess-less 😉
I am linking up with Laura again today! Let’s find out what kind of #strangebutgood recipes the other bloggers came up with 😀
Have a nice weekend lovelies!
Is there any substitute to dates?
I would say figs could work as well but as they are a bit drier I would also add more raisins. But I only tried it with dates myself.
Figs? Great!
Moreover Figs + Raisins make yummy combo. Thanks a lot Juli.
Heavenly Granola Bars 🙂
These look delicious and the recipe doesn’t seem that hard. I’m not a fan of dates either. I was thinking of substituting figs or even prunes. It’s worth a try! Thanks for sharing this!
Prunes are a lovely idea! I can imagine this absolutely delicious. Maybe with a dash of cinnamon too! You got me hooked! I’ll try this next. Thanks for the inspiration <3
These look so perfect! I love making this like these a race fuel. And that syrup!!!
They ought to be a great race fuel! Thank you so much 🙂
Specifying Lindt you clearly had me in mind when creating these. (: They look great and I like how you made them just the right balance of nutritious and naughty. Okay, if I considered chocolate naughty ;).
Nutritious and Naughty – this sounds like a great name for a blog! I don’t think chocolate itself is naughty but the amount I used clearly is 😉
I was only lazy when I bought the Lindt bottle but it’s so much better than any other chocolate covering. And totally worth the arm and leg it costs ….
That SYRUP- Omg, why have I never seen that before? I always use Lindt chocolate in my baking and it’s always 100 grams too lol!
I knew you would like that 😉 Lindt for the win!