Blueberry Coconut Granola Bars

Today the husband and I went on a hike. It was not the climbs we used to go on in Colorado, but it was pretty steep...and we are not in the same shape we used to be in :) So sustenance was in order! I altered my Grain Free Granola to become these blueberry coconut granola bars, and they turned out pretty good. We carried these babies along with some fresh fruit and vegetables for our mid-hike snack/ meal.

Blueberry Coconut Granola Bars (grain free)

Makes about 4 cups granola, chopped or 6-9 bars, depending on how you slice them

Ingredients

• 1 apple, banana, pear, or 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce (I used applesauce for these)
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp vanilla powder or extract
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• ¼ cup water (or more if needed)
• 1 cup nuts: slivered almonds, Brazil nuts, hazel nuts, and cashews work well
• 1/4 cup pumpkin or sunflower seeds
• 2 Tbsp chia seed meal (ground up in a coffee grinder or high powered blender, or bought from a whole food market or iherb.com)
• 2 Tbsp dried blueberries
• 1 cup unsweetened, unsulfured coconut flakes
• optional: 2 Tbs buckwheat groats (seed, not a grain)
  

Method

• First, puree the banana, apple, applesauce or pear that you are using with the cinnamon, vanilla powder or extract, sea salt, and water
• Then, in a food processor, or high powered blender (for Vitamix, only on power 3, using the tamper), pulse in the nuts, seeds, chia seed meal, dried blueberries and coconut (and buckwheat groats if using) until a thick paste has formed. If needed, add more water at this point if the mixture is too thick and not coming together.
• Spread out onto a dehydrator tray about 1/2 inch thick.
• Score lines for how big you want your bars to be, that way they separate as they dehydrate.
• Dehydrate at 115°for 8-12 hours. Test a piece at about 8 hours for desired chewiness.
• You can use them as bars, or break them up into chunks like shown below- would make a great cereal with some almond milk- yum!
  
• If you wish to make these in the oven, feel free to give it a shot- you might want to add much more water to the recipe for higher baking times.

This post has been linked up to: Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays @ Simply Sugar and Gluten Free.

Happy granola bar making!
Eryn