Granola bars are perfect for solving that on-the-go hunger. These Peanut Butter Goodness Granola Bars are super easy to make and are a lot less expensive than buying granola bars. AND they’re also nutritious!

What’s great is that they’re super customizable. I used Peanut Butter Co’s White Chocolate Wonder peanut butter for the first batch, and Whole Food’s freshly ground peanut butter for the second batch. Both are super tasty!

These granola bars are only comprised of a few ingredients. Dates, pumpkin seeds, almonds, oats, nut butter, and your choice of honey or maple syrup for sweetener.

Dates act as the base for the granola bar. Once you grind them into a paste, it’ll act as a binder for all the other ingredients.  Nutritionally, they’re a great source of carbohydrates, iron and dietary fiber.

Almonds. I always try to eat my nuts raw! And even better, sprouted. A friend of mine worked on a study that found it’s possible that nuts can lose a good portion of their vital nutrients when they are roasted or cooked in some way! Don’t get me wrong, they’re still healthy for you either way, but you can unlock most of their nutritious power when they’re raw or sprouted. Almonds  are a great source of vitamin E, magnesium, and protein. They’re also a good source of “healthy fats.”

Pumpkin seeds are some of my favorite seeds! Tasty, a great source of zinc, magnesium, healthy fats. These little green seeds pack a nutritious punch.

Nut butter is taking the world of nutrition by storm. Every day you have a new nut butter, whether it’s a twist on the original peanut butter, to then creating a variety of almond butter, pecan, cashew, hazelnut butter. Then you have your butters. They’re all tasty and have a different array of nutrients. I personally like raw almond butter ( Trader Joe’s ! ) and different varieties of peanut butter.  One of the most important things when picking out a nut butter, is to make sure that there are no partially-hydrogenated oils. These are trans fats. Trans fats lower your HDL (good cholesterol) and raise your LDL (bad cholesterol). Make sure you check your ingredient list! The peanut butters used in these bars are partially-hydrogenated oil-free. Peanut butter is a yummy source of protein and “healthy fats!”

Oats are a wonderful source of fiber. If you are gluten-free, make sure you get the gluten-free option! By nature oats do not contain gluten, but are often processed in factories that are contaminated with gluten, so you can’t know for sure unless it is certified gluten-free.

Honey and maple syrup are great sweeteners! Honey contains natural antibacterial properties. Maple syrup has shown to have a lower impact on your blood sugar than table sugar.

So, why not give this recipe a try!

Peanut Butter Goodness Granola Bars

• 1 cup dried dates
• 1/4 cup peanut butter ( more to taste depending on the taste of the nut butter)
• 1 1/4 cup oats
• 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/3 cup almonds
• 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup (optional depending on if your nut butter is sweetened)
• 1/2 tsp ground vanilla (optional)
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

*Optional: toast oats in oven at 350F for 10 minutes.

Grind dates into a paste with a food processor or blender. Mix in nut butter. Sprinkle vanilla and cinnamon evenly over mixture. Mix. Add oats. Add honey or maple syrup for desired sweetness. Mix in pumpkin seeds and almonds.

Press into 8×8 pan. I used the William Sonoma Snack Pan to make uniform bars.

Put in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.

Enjoy 🙂