Food Friday: Granola Bars!!!

When I was travelling through California last year we took a roadtrip with a guide and a group of cool Internationals. Hiking and camping in the woods, we ate a lot of granola bars and yes, our group name was GRANOLA! :) Haha, super funny!

How come that I made some? Well, working in the office eight hours a day, I always have a down-point in the afternoons. It's like I'm totally unfocused then and not as creative as in the mornings, additionally I'm super tired and tend to drop off into dreams. The solution: maybe a bit of sugar would help: fruits, nuts, dark chocolate and a cup of green tea are my go-tos. This time I've wanted to try out the no-bake granola recipe from Mind Body Green, but of course I did transform it.

I've used the same amount of ingredients:
3 cups of oats (substitute with müsli, if you do not have raw oats at home)
1.5-2.5 cups of seeds and nuts (anything you like, I did a lot of almonds, cashews and sunflower seeds)

1 cup of dried fruit (cranberries here)
¼ tsp salt

For the 'binder' it says:
2/3 cup nut butter (it's peanut here)
2/3 cup honey (or agave)

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl and the nut butter and honey in another one. The next step would be mixing up both together and then spreading it out on a baking sheet. Then, you'd have to put it in the refrigderator for a couple of hours. 

I've tried and it didn't work out, I've added more honey and nut butter since I had a lot of oats and they were too dry to spread on the baking sheet. The next morning, after leaving the dough in the refridgerator the granola wouldn't stick.

My tip: If it doesn't stick, either melt the nut butter and honey mixture in a pan before mixing it up with the dry ingredients OR just put the dough in the oven for like 8-10min. at 200°C (390°F).

Next time, I'll try to make no-bake granola bars, just have to experiment how it'll work the best. Will keep you updated then. It's a healthy snack when you need some sugar and you actually know what's inside!

Enjoy some granola bars! :)