This time I added dried cherries - I love the combination of cherries and chocolate - as well as more shredded coconut to the recipe. They came out so well that I made them two days in a row! Easy, delicious, and healthy, this is a must try recipe.
Oh, and this recipe is vegan! No butter or honey, etc.
Vegan* Chocolate, Cherry Granola Bars
Adapted from Banana Chocolate Breakfast Bars on Chocolate and Zucchini, which adapted its recipe from Nikki's Healthy Cookie Recipe on Heidi's 101 Cookbooks.
*As long as the chocolate you use is vegan!
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 2/3 cup ground almonds (I ground mine in a food processer)
- 1/2 cup dried, unsweetened grated coconut
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 very ripe, medium bananas
- 1/2 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup slightly warmed coconut oil (may substitute whole almond butter or olive oil)
- About 3 1/2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (may substitute with a darker chocolate)
- About 1/4 cup dried, sweetened cherries chopped (about in quarters)**
**You can add any type of dried fruit you'd like - cranberries, blueberries, pineapple, etc. It is a very flexible recipe.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease an 8x8 baking dish with vegetable oil.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oats, ground almonds, coconut, and salt. Set aside.
In another medium mixing bowl, combine the bananas, vanilla, and coconut oil, and mash together using a potato masher. Add the oats mixture and mix well. Fold the chocolate and cherries in gently.
Pour into the prepared baking dish, level the surface, and put into the oven. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the top is set and the edges are golden-brown. Let cool completely before slicing.
Cut into bars of your preferred size and wrap in wax paper or saran wrap. Decorate with stickers.
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