home-made granola "bars"

I have this friend, Sam, who is probably one of the most talented athletes I've ever known. Well, he came up with a recipe for his "energy bars" and they were so delicious I had to make them. I simply changed them from white chocolate to dark chocolate and changed up the nuts and seeds and cereal in order to fit my preferences a little more. These are so healthy. I have so many people ask me what the healthiest protein bar is or the healthiest energy bar or granola bar. My answer? None you can find in the store. Sure, there might be some healthy boutique bars at health food stores, but all the ones I've tried I've had to spit out and rinse my mouth out with whatever I had on hand to get the terrible taste out of my mouth. These on the other hand, are all-natural, natural protein, yumminess, and they're so easy!

Ingredients:

2 eggs

2 bananas

1/2 cup honey

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 cup almonds slightly crushed

1/2 cup craisins

1/2 cup gluten free cereal, I used brown rice cereal

1 1/2 cup old fashioned oats

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

1/8 cup pine nuts or sunflower seeds

1/8 cup ground flax seeds

1/4 cup peanuts

1/4 cup walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix banana, egg, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt until banana is pureed.

2. Mix in almonds, craisins, cereal, and all seeds and nuts.

3. Mix in oats and let the mixture soak into the oats for 5 minutes.

4. Fill in a cupcake sheet patting each down until level with the top.

5. Bake in oven at 325 degrees for 12 minutes.

Frosting:

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

2 heaping tbsp peanut butter

1. Microwave chocolate and peanut butter in glass or porceline bowl for 90 seconds ( make sure to check it and stir it a couple times). Mix to make it smooth and melt.

2. Spread chocolate on top of bars while bars are cooling.

3. Let them cool for a few hours until chocolate is hard.

I like to keep these on hand, in the fridge at home or at work, so that I don't let my energy crash. These will stay good, tightly covered for about a week or a little more. Or, you can freeze them and take out however many you will eat for the next few days and keep those in the fridge so the rest don't go bad. Give these a try, I guarantee you will like them!! Healthiest granola bars you will ever eat!