Chewy Granola Bars
My recipe for “healthified” Chewy Granola Bars.
“HEALTHIFIED” CHEWY GRANOLA BARS:
1 cup natural peanut butter or almond
1/2 cup Allulose
1/2 tsp stevia glycerite
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup Allulose Honey
1 cup almond flour
1 cup hazelnut meal (or other nuts)
2 cups crushed macadamia nuts
1 tsp Real Salt
OPTIONAL: 1/4 cup cocoa powder
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a food processor (click HERE to find the one I like on sale!), place all the ingredients and blend until a thick paste. Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan (or line with parchment paper), then spread the mixture into the pan and press down to form a dense sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until slightly crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside. Makes 12 LARGE bars.
NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per serving)
Traditional Granola Bar = 256 calories, 44 carbs, 2.6g fiber
“Healthified” Granola Bar = 238 calories, 7.5 carbs, 2.9 g fiber (5.4 effective carbs)
Testimony of the Day
“I just wanted to send my thank yous. I have been following you for a while, have all of your cookbooks and love your recipes. Recently (the last two months), my weight loss stalled. I’ve lost 70 lbs since last year and have another 50 to go.
I was keeping my carbs under 30g but didn’t pay any attention to my protein and fat. 1 1/2 weeks ago, I started tracking everything. 5% carbs, 10% protein, and 80 percent fat. Although my fat intake isn’t quite there, I (counter-intuitively) upped my fat dramatically. Lo and behold, I’m losing again! I’ve spent decades overweight, following an 1200 calorie diet, low fat and whole grains. Amazing that now I’m eating almost 2000 calories, low carb/high-fat diet, I’m still shedding the weight! Thank you for all of your advice! This has been an amazing transformation of my life!” -Maryann
Click HERE to start your journey to a keto-adapted diet!
I can’t try this recipe since it includes xylitol and I refuse to have xylitol in the house since it’s totally deadly to dogs, and I have a dog who does her best to eat everything not nailed down. Not to mention the only times I’ve tried xylitol, even in small amounts, I was in totally agony for hours, and had doubts I’d ever get out of the bathroom, LOL. It does look awesome, but I’ll stick to your wonderful xylitol-free recipes!
scall0way & Maria: can either of you tell me more about xylitol? I know there is a wonderful explanantion of it above, but everything I’ve read or heard prior to reading this, I had only heard negative things about it. Isn’t it a sugar alcohol? Any more details you can share would be great!! Thanks!
Sugar alcohols are not sugars or alcohols; they are carbohydrates with a structure that resembles sugar and alcohol. Foods that are made with sugar alcohols are labeled sugar-free because they replace full calorie sugar sweeteners. Sugar alcohols have been found to be a positive substitute for sugar for decreasing glycemic response, dental cavities, and caloric intake.
Are they safe? Sugar alcohols naturally occur in many fruits and vegetables.
The reason that sugar alcohols provide fewer calories than sugar is because they are not completely absorbed in our body. For this reason, high intakes of foods containing some sugar alcohols can lead to abdominal gas and diarrhea. The presence of sugar alcohols in foods does not mean that you can eat unlimited quantities. Sugar alcohols are lower in calories, gram for gram, than sugar. They are not calorie-free. Reading the food labels for the calorie and carbohydrate content regardless of the claim of being sugar-free, low-sugar, or low-carb, will help you stick within your daily allowance.
Xylitol occurs naturally in many fruits and vegetables and is even produced by the human body during normal metabolism. Manufacturers make it from plants such as birch and other hard wood trees and fibrous vegetation. Some people prefer the taste of xylitol.
The last ingredient in the Nature’s Hollow Honey is Caramel Coloring which I thought was a no-no? I forgot to ask about this when we saw you in River Falls.
PS – the above explanation re: sugar alcohols was very informative!
Any idea of approximate protein grams per serving?
A little over 18 grams. 🙂
I just made this recipe for the first time this morning and oh my goodness, it is so yummy! Thanks for all these awesome recipes! I love your cookbooks too! 🙂
Thanks!
Hi. Have you frozen these before? Would I freeze the batter or the baked bars? Thanks!
Yes, they freeze well (I freeze after baking). 🙂
Can I use coconut flour instead of hazelnut meal?…All I have handy at this moment are coconut and almond flours.
I would try almond flour. Coconut flour has a different ratio.
Hi Maria, can’t wait to try these. i’ve tried the Quest bars and they’re great but expensive. I’ve recently purchased the 30 day accelerated and 30 day maintenance plan from you and i’m on day 7! so far so good 🙂 i’ve been watching your videos and on one you talk about roasting your own almonds but i can’t seem to find that again. do you have a recipe or can you point me to where that is in my package 🙂 thanks
Sorry, I don’t remember which video you are referring to. It is pretty easy. Just get raw almonds (brushed with oil and added spices) and roast at 250 or 275 for about an hour or until they start to brown. Thanks!
is there a substitute for the nature’s hollow honey? thanks so much.
Not that I know of. You can just sub Swerve but it won’t give you the sticky texture.
if I substitute swerve, do you think it will hold together ok? thanks maria for being a pioneer and advocate for us.
It would probably be more crumbly without the xylitol honey. 🙂
Hi there Maria!
Is it possible to sub Swerve for the Erythritol? Thanks so much for the help, all of your recipes are wonderful! 🙂
Yes, that works. Thanks! 🙂
Maria, do you think that the Nature’s Hollow xylitol maple syrup would be OK to use in place of the honey? Or is it too watery? Don’t have the honey on hand. Also, the whey crisps have sucralose in them. A BIG no for me, so I would skip the whey, the cocoa, & use chopped macadamias and I thought the maple flavor might be good in them. Any thoughts on that?
I think that would work. 🙂