These Trail Mix Granola Bars combine all the salty, crunchy nuts, with raisins and chocolate chips – and are held together with a combination of brown rice syrup, almond meal, and peanut butter. So much better than store bought bars AND you know exactly what’s in them!
Ever since I started this blog back in October of 2016, I’ve been getting pretty nutty. 🙂 In other words, I’ve purchased more nuts than EVER before. This is the same girl who used to hate nuts of any kind, so it’s pretty monumental.
All these nuts have been used in several of my recipes, especially the following.
- Peanut Butter Power Balls
- Cinnamon Nut Granola
- Banana Nut Bread
- Rhubarb Nut Bread
- And now these Trail Mix Granola Bars
Another thing I’ve done is purchased a ton of nuts on-line. I’ve also found some great deals at Sam’s Club, because they can get pretty spendy if you make all the power balls, granola, and granola bars that I have.
The trail mix part of these granola bars include:
- almonds
- sunflower seeds
- pumpkin seeds
- raisins
- mini chocolate chips
The part of these bars that make them stick together is a mixture of brown rice syrup, crunchy peanut butter, and almond meal. The syrup is the sticky part and also gives these a slightly sweet flavor. Almond meal fills in all the cracks and helps turn them into a bar, and peanut butter creams it all together.
BONUS –> You know EXACTLY what’s in these trail mix bars. There are 9 ingredients and that’s all. There is NOTHING hard to pronounce in them – just a bunch of nuts, raisins, chocolate, peanut butter, almond meal (which is just crushed almonds), and brown rice syrup.
Pro-tips for epic granola bars:
- You can sub out the mix-ins for others, if preferred. Just use same quantities, and make sure the nuts are chopped.
- When pressing the mixture into the pan, use cold water or a little oil on your hands to make it easier.
- These bars are baked in a 10×15 sheet pan for approximately 25 minutes. But you could use a 9X13 and just know that they will be slightly thicker. You may also want to increase baking time until the bars are nice and browned, depending on your oven.
- I like to keep these granola bars in the fridge. They are just slightly sticky so I think they hold their shape better being cold. They’d probably be alright on the counter for a few days though too.
- These granola bars are a perfect school-box snack. Just wrap them up in parchment paper, and tuck them in your kids’ lunches. My boys have been loving these, and are in the habit of grabbing one on the way out the door.
Make this healthy snack next: Peanut Butter Power Balls
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These granola bars are much better than store bought bars AND you know exactly what's in them!
- 3/4 cup brown rice syrup
- 1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
- 3/4 cup almond meal
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups almonds - roughly chopped
- 1 cup salted sunflower seeds
- 3/4 cup pumpkin seeds
- 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup raisins
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Prepare 1/2 sheet pan with parchment paper, making sure the paper is hanging over the edges for easy removal.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine brown rice syrup, peanut butter, almond meal, and vanilla. Mix well.
In another bowl, combine the remaining ingredients - the chopped almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, mini chocolate chips, and raisins. Mix.
Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, and mix until all ingredients are wet.
Pour the entire mixture into prepared baking sheet. Press down with a measuring cup or your greased hands until it's level in all areas of pan.
Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven to let cool, approximately 45 minutes.
Place pan in refrigerator for another 45 minutes until cold.
- You can sub out the mix-ins for others, if preferred. Just use same quantities, and make sure the nuts are chopped.
- When pressing the mixture into the pan, use cold water or a little oil on your hands to make it easier.
- These bars are baked in a 10x15 sheet pan for approximately 25 minutes. But you could use a 9X13 and just know that they will be slightly thicker. You may also want to increase baking time until the bars are nice and browned, depending on your oven.
- I like to keep these granola bars in the fridge. They are just slightly sticky so I think they hold their shape better being cold. They'd probably be alright on the counter for a few days though too.
- These granola bars are a perfect school-box snack. Just wrap them up in parchment paper, and tuck them in your kids' lunches. My boys have been loving these, and are in the habit of grabbing one on the way out the door.
 
 
  
  
 
  
These are awesome and only 9 ingredients!