Coconut + chocolate = yum yums. I am completely hung up on these coconut chocolate granola bars! The hubby and I may or may not have polished off 6 of these in the last 24 hours. By the time you actually read this, they may (read: will) all be gone. And for once, I don’t have to feel that guilty! I mean, what’s better than having something that’s actually healthy and that tastes like a almond joy candy bar? Not much on this planet, I can tell you that! Question for you… Have you ever read the ingredients on a store-bought granola bar? Yeah. Okay. Don’t. Some granola bars have ingredients I won’t even bother pronouncing. And lets not even talk about an Almond Joy bar, there’s like 20 something ingredients in there. I’ll skip that. Thankyouverymuch. What’s come over me, you ask? Well as I mentioned here, the hubby and I have had way (way, wayyyyyyyy) too much fun on our vacay and are now trying to reel it back in. A couple friend of ours is on the South Beach diet and even though we’re not, they’ve motivated us to eat healthy too. And after reading this on Pinch of Yum, we’re motivated to significantly reduce (and one day, eliminate) as much sugar from our diets as possible. So here we are, trying our best to not use white sugar, brown sugar, fake sugar syrups, and all artificial sweeteners. Other than chocolate in small quantities, of course. Lindsay has a lot more self control than I do around chocolate. Because I am a self admitting chocoholic and cannot make it a full week without having some. Hi, nice to meet you! Now back to granola bars. When I make granola bars at home, I like to use whole and natural ingredients. And chocolate. How can you not use chocolate? You only need 10 ingredients to make these coconut chocolate granola bars at home. Which is way less than any almond joy or store-bought granola bar! Start with some old fashioned rolled oats, rice crispies cereal (make sure to get a variety that doesn’t have sugar if you’re also trying watch your sugar intake), some sliced almonds, unsweetened coconut flakes, and some chocolate chunks or chips. Regular roasted almonds or slivered almonds would work fine too.
I like to toast up my rolled oats, sliced almonds, and unsweetened coconut flakes. I love the flavor and super crunchy texture you get from just lightly toasting these key ingredients. This step is optional so it’s completely up to you! The wet ingredients are what make these coconut chocolate granola bars hold their shape. A little sweet honey, some melted coconut oil, almond butter, a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Just heat these ingredients in a small sauce pan until they start to bubble up. I love these coconut chocolate granola bars because they’re good for you and you can’t even tell. There’s a certain bliss that you get from eating healthy things that don’t taste healthy. Oh, is it just me? Ditch the store-bought granola bars and get to making these. It’s candy bar ingredients mashed into granola bar ingredients without all the added garbage!
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