Healthy No-Bake Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Healthy, no-bake granola bars with a sweet, crunchy texture.  No refined sugar.

Prep time (including toasting of oats and nuts): 20 minutes
Source: Minimalist Baker

Makes 8-10 bars in a 8X8 pan.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup packed dates, pitted
• 1/4 cup honey (can use maple syrup or agave)
• 1/4 cup peanut butter (recipe recommends creamy, also gave almond butter as variation)
• 1 cup almonds (roasted, unsalted, and loosely chopped)  *Could really use any kind of nuts you wanted
• 1 1/2 cups oatmeal   

*Optional additions: vanilla, dried fruit (such as raisins or banana chips), chocolate chips, coconut, or nuts

Directions:

1. Optional step: toast oatmeal in oven at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes (I toasted my almonds the same time) or until slightly golden brown.  I prefer the toasted, more nutty flavor, but you can leave them raw if desired. (If you choose to add coconut, I would toast it too.)
2. Put dates in food processor until soft bits remain (about 1 minute). Should be a dough-like consistency (mine formed a ball).
3. Place oats, almonds, dates, and any additional add-ins in bowl and set aside.
4. Warm honey and peanut butter in a small saucepan over low heat until melted and combined (add vanilla if desired (I didn't when I tried recipe)).  Pour mixture over oat mixture and stir well, breaking up dates to disperse throughout.
5. Once thoroughly mixed, pour into a greased 8X8 pan and lightly press down until uniformly flattened.  Set in fridge or freezer for 15-20 minutes to harden.  Cut into 10 bars (fairly small so I'd probably do 8).  Store in airtight container.

Nutritional Information per bar (without additional add-ins and cut into 10 bars):

Calories: 220   Fat: 8 g   Saturated fat: 1 g   Carbohydrates: 31 g   Sugars: 19 g   Fiber: 4 g   Protein: 6 g

*As you can see, these bars are "healthy" but are in no way low calorie.  Since I LOVE peanut butter and anything granola-ish, I could easily eat this whole pan myself :)  These are tasty, little energy bars.