Recipe: Cranberry Chocolate Nutty Granola (GF)

My teen is not really a breakfast person during the week. He has a light or no appetite when he rises very early, like at his 6am alarm for school, and he hates to have to sit at the table for a full meal. It's so important for him to have breakfast though, so I have to find things that he can grab and scarf down on his way out the door. Not my preference, but at least he's eating something. In an effort to have a healthier, less processed option, I decided to make him homemade granola bars. They were not only easy to make, the one pan of granola lasted for 2 weeks worth of breakfasts. Mom-1, store-bought bars-0. 

Ingredients:

-4 cups old fashioned rolled oats. I used Bob's Red Mill extra thick since they're gluten free

-1 cup unsweetened organic coconut flakes

-1 cup almond butter

-1/3 cup honey

-2/3 cup agave nectar (Amber)

-1/2 cup organic light brown sugar (packed)

-1 cup of your favorite trail mix. I used Tierra Farm Chocolate Cranberry Cashew Mix from Mom's Organic Market

Instructions:

-Preheat oven to 350F. Spread the oats and coconut on a baking sheet. Place in oven and toast for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until brown. (I have an electric oven which heats up fast, so I stirred every 3 minutes.)

-Combine the almond butter, honey, agave and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar and almond butter have completely dissolved/melted and come to a creamy consistency. Stir continuously to avoid burning.

-Remove toasted oats & coconut from the oven and transfer to a large mixing bowl, and then add trail mix. Pour almond butter mixture on top and stir to combine.

-Transfer to a greased glass baking pan (I used Earth Balance organic whipped spread), spread and flatten mixture into pan.

-Bake at 300F for another 8 minutes. Then set aside for 10 minutes to cool.

-Refrigerate uncovered for 45 mins - 1 hour

-Cut into squares and serve.

*yields approximately 16 squares