Vegan Bites: Toasted Granola
Beautiful no-bake (slightly toasted) granola from https://inthewildheartkitchen.com/
- 2 cups oats toasted
- ½ cup dates roughly chopped
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup techina
- 1 cup almonds roughly chopped
- ½ cup pumpkin seeds
- 2 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 2 small pinches kosher salt
- ⅓ cup dark chocolate melted
- ½ teaspoon olive oil
- Malden salt to sprinkle
Instructions
- Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Scatter the oats on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and toast the oats for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. The oats should become a deep golden color.
- While the oats are toasting, put the dates in a small food processor. Process the dates until they are mushy. (If your dates aren’t from a freshly opened bag and are on the drier side, let them soak in hot water for 5 minutes before processing them.)
- In a microwave safe bowl, combine the tachina and maple syrup. Heat it in 10 second bursts until the mixture is just barely warmed and the tachina is very runny. Set aside.
- Place the oats and chopped almonds into a large mixing bowl and rub them together with the processed dates.
- Add the salt, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds and mix to combine.
- Pour the maple/tachina mixture over the oat mixture and mix really well to combine. Be sure that all ingredients are evenly coated in the tachina and maple syrup.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared 8×8 pan. Use the bottom of a drinking glass to firmly press the mixture together as compactly as possible. It’s very important that the granola mixture be pressed together and very compact.
- Place the pan into the refrigerator and chill for about 4 hours until completely solid.
- Once solid, lift the granola bars out of the tin with the parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, cut them into 9 large bars or any size you desire. Set them aside.
- Melt the chocolate together with the olive oil. You can do this either in a microwave safe bowl in 10 second bursts or over a double boiler.
- Dip a spoon into the chocolate and use it to drizzle the chocolate over each bar then lightly sprinkle each bar with a few flecks of flaky salt. Allow the chocolate to completely set before snacking.
- Store these bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.