Dark Chocolate Coconut Granola Bars (Healthy!

• Condiments

  • 2 tbsp Almond butter
  • 1/4 cup Honey
  • 1 tsp Vanilla bean paste

• Pasta & Grains

  • 1 1/2 cup Fashion oats, Old

• Baking & Spices

  • 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
  • 10 oz Dark chocolate

• Oils & Vinegars

  • 5/16 cup Coconut oil

• Nuts & Seeds

  • 1 cup Almonds, whole
  • 2 tbsp Chia seeds
  • 3/4 cup Coconut flake
  • 1 1/4 cup Walnut

• Other

  • ¼ cup ground flax

Found on thebellevieblog.com

Description

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole almonds, divided
• 1 cup walnuts, divided
• 1 ½ cup old fashion oats, divided
• ¼ cup ground flax
• 2 Tablespoons chia seeds
• ½ cup coconut flakes
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 Tablespoons almond butter
• 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
• 10 ounces dark chocolate (about 1 ½ cups chopped)
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts,
• ¼ cup chopped coconut flakes

Directions

• In a food processor, add a ½ cup of almonds, ½ cup of walnuts, and ¾ cup of the oats. Process until it turns into a fine powder, about 1 minute. (Be careful not to over process, you don’t want it to start sticking together.)
• Roughly chop the remaining almonds and walnuts. Add them to a large bowl along with the remaining ¾ cup oats and the processed powder.
• Add to the bowl the ground flax, chia seeds, and coconut flakes. Toss together.
• Heat a small pan on the stove over medium heat. Add the honey, coconut oil, vanilla bean paste, cinnamon, and the almond butter. Stir constantly until everything is fully melted and begins to foam. Allow it to foam and bubble for about a minute before immediately pouring it over the nuts and oats mixture.
• Using a rubber spatula, stir everything together until it’s evenly distributed.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 13x6’’ pan with parchment paper, enough to hang over two of the sides.
• Pour the granola mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Now using a metal spatula, begin pressing down really hard all along the edges and through the middle. (I was using my body weight a lot of the time. If you don’t press down so that it’s very tight, then when you go to cut them later, they’ll just fall apart on you. So it’s important to really put some pressure on it.)
• Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until firm. Remove and allow to cool completely.
• To make the chocolate glaze, melt 1 TB coconut oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the chocolate chips, and stir often while they continue to melt until it becomes a perfectly smooth glaze.
• Pour it over the bars and using a spatula, spread it to the edges and even it out.
• Sprinkle the top with additional walnuts and coconut flakes if desired.
• Allow the top to set. (I made these in the afternoon, and it wasn’t completely firm until the next morning.) You can certainly cut into them sooner, but the chocolate will probably just melt off the edges.
• Once fully set, pick up both sides of the overhanging parchment paper and remove from the pan. Chop into desired size. (I cut mine to be about 1”x3” and I got 26 Bars out of them.)