Hey everybody, what’s up? I’m going to show you how to make my favorite Homemade Brownie and Blondie Granola Bars.
Who has more fun blondes or brunettes? Hmm
If you’re not enjoying your food then you are on a four-letter word called a diet, okay?
We don’t advocate diets, we just advocate eating as close to as nature intended and leaving the processed stuff out. It’s that’s easy.
So today we’re going to make this granola bars, and again equal opportunity, so we’re making Blondies and we’re making Brownies. Some are without the cocoa powder, some are with the cocoa powder and a little bit of extra chocolate because there are times when you want a little more something rich and a little something more just basic, like in the morning, for example, when you’re heading out the door. But late at night, maybe you want just a little, little, little bite, like a little square of something really good, and that’s all you need, is just little bite.
These granola bars are super nutrient dense.
We’re using a variety of different mixed nuts. I have hazelnuts and I have almonds. I have cashews. I even have Brazil nuts. I just went the whole cocktail, right here, and just did a mixture of everything that I could find. We’re going to use two cups of those.
I also have some dates. These are pitted dates. 
You can use any variety of date you really like, it doesn’t really matter. We’re doing to use a cup of those, because I’m watching our sugar, so I don’t want to add too, too much sugar to the mix.
I’m also using some quick cook oats. These are gluten-free quick cook oats and I’m going to use about a cup and a half of those.
Then I have my favorite honey. This is the Artist ‘n Sons local honey that I get and it’s like I have to really try to hard not to eat the whole thing with a spoon. It’s that good.
We’re also going to add some of the MitoXcell.
This is a new product that I was turned onto to be Natalie Jill, which I really, really dig. It’s cocoa powder but it has so much more added to it, you get the benefit of the cocoa with everything else in it. It’s got echinacea and L-Carnitine, and other good essential acids for you, for your system and rebuilding your muscles. Then we have a little bit of cinnamon and a little bit of dark chocolate.
We are going to add our nuts in to a food processor, and like I said we got just a mixture. If you don’t like certain types of nuts, you don’t have to add them in. I’m going to actually take out about this much, little handful, because what I want to do is I want to hold on to these for a little bit coarser grinding in there so I have some whole nut. So that’s about, probably three tablespoons or so that I’m going to reserve. The oats, I want to get those nice and fine. Take that out for a second. You want a little bit of a coarseness in there. I’m going to add my dates. Grind those up. Okay and in with that mixture, now that I’ve got those pretty chopped up, I’m going to add in the honey. Oh baby. I’m going to add in about half a cup right now.
There is natural sugar in these, so I don’t want you to eat the whole pan.
Then I’m going to add my mixture back in there. Okay, you’re going to take your spatula, you’re going to mix that around. You’re going to get your workout doing this too, I gather. Oh yeah. So here’s what your mixture ends up looking like at this point and then you got to get in there and work it with your hands y’all. There’s just no way around it.
Before I do that though, before it gets really messy, I’m going to add half a cup of the MitoXcell. If you don’t have this you can just use regular unsweetened cocoa powder. This is going to give it that chocolate fudginess and then mix that around. Then I’m also going to add a little bit of our peanut butter and this is going to help be the final binder. I’m going to add, just going to pour it in, it’s going to be about two tablespoons. Peanut butter, yay.
That is your sticky, brownie version of the Blondies. Now, I’m going to go grab what I set up already in the freezer. Then what you’re going to do is, you’re going to place a piece of parchment paper, just like so, in your pan so it makes it super simple to pop out. You’re just going to pull the whole out and then we can cut that into squares. Before I spoon this all out, is add my cinnamon. I’m going to a teaspoon of the cinnamon. I’m just gonna kind of leave that on the top. I’m going to top the whole thing with some chocolate.
Now that is going to get molded right into the other side of my pan here. I’m going to push that in and you’re going to let that set up in your freezer for about 15 minutes or so, just like so. Then I’m going to finish it off with my melted chocolate because these are my brownie ones.
This is a dark unsweetened chocolate. There’s literally no sugar in here at all. I think with the sweetness of the dates and everything else we have going on in here, the honey and stuff, that should be good enough.
This is what it looks like before the chocolate sets up, on the brownie side and then this is the Blondie side with the chocolate set up. Just like so. After that sits in the fridge or the freezer for a little bit, you’ll be good to go.
Here’s what it looks like when you cut into these. 
It’s like super dense. And when I say a little bit goes a long way, literally sometimes all you need is a couple of bites because there are nuts in here, there’s peanut butter, there’s chocolate. I mean it’s pretty dense. Just like so. Oh yeah. There is your granola bar. Now that’s a bar, okay? Don’t give me any of that processed stuff, that is a bar by far that you can take in a car and drive real far like the man from Mars. Right?
So those are your bars. That’s what it looks like when it’s done. You can take these and wrap them up like I mentioned, you just stick them in a little bit of wax paper and take them on the road, especially now, with summer, you’re going to be on the road a lot, driving to Grandma’s house or wherever you’re going, that’s a good opportunity to make a batch of these and not have to rely on road stops because that’s like the worst food ever.
Just to recap, we did the mixed nuts. We did the peanut butter. We did the dates and we did the oats. What else? The honey and we did a little cinnamon and a little on the top. Ground it all together and that’s what you get. Pretty much. Pretty much. I’m going to put these back in the freezer because I know what’s going to happen as soon as the kids walk in the door. It’s gonna be gone. It’s gonna be gone. That’s what happens when you have teenager and a tweenager. There is no food left in this house. Ever.
Homemade Granola Bars: Blondes & Brownies
These Blondie and Brownie Granola Bars are perfect for anytime of day!! They are clean, gluten-free, and vegan.
Ingredients:
- Decadent Raw Blondies:
- 2 C Walnut Halves or Pieces
- 1/4 C Granulated Stevia
- 1/2 C Nut Butter
- 8 Pitted Dates
- 1 TSP Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 C Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
- 1/2 C Dark Chocolate Chip, melted
- Decadent Raw Brownies
- Same ingredients as above, PLUS
- 1/2 C Unsweetened Cacao
Directions:
- In a food processor, pulse walnuts until finely chopped.
- Add stevia, nut butter, dates, and vanilla extract and pulse until smooth.
- Mix in shredded coconut in and transfer into an 8″ x 8″ baking pan, and spread evenly.
- Drizzle melted chocolate over the top.
- Allow chocolate to harden, cut, and serve.
I dare you not to drool!
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You can save and print this recipe here: homemade-granola-bars