Homemade Snack Bars

Homemade Snack Bars - 2 Guiding Stars

Active Time

15 min.

Total Time

30 min.

Servings

9 (79 g)

Kids will love this homemade snack bar and you can send it with them to school, confident that the fiber, protein, and heart-healthy fat will keep them full and energized to help them focus on learning and playing all day long.

Tip: Prep these over the weekend and use for snacks throughout the week.

Ingredients

1⅓ cup pitted dates
1¼ cup crisp brown rice cereal
1 cup quick-cooking oats
¼ cup coarsely chopped peanuts
2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed
½ tsp. cinnamon
⅛ tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. water
½ cup natural peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions

Spray an 8″x8″ pan with cooking spray and set aside.
Place the dates in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Remove ⅓ cup of the chopped dates and set aside.
Combine the remaining chopped dates with the cereal, oats, peanuts, flaxseed, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.
Return the reserved ⅓ cup dates to the food processor with the water and process until smooth.
Combine the date and water mixture with the peanut butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until completely blended (3-5 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
Combine the peanut butter mixture with the cereal mixture and stir to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Press mixture evenly into the pan and allow it to cool (15 minutes) before cutting into bars to serve.

Nutritional analysis per serving: Calories 310; Total Fat 13.5g (17% Daily Value); Saturated Fat 3g (15% DV); Trans Fat 0g; Cholesterol 0mg (0% DV); Sodium 55mg (2% DV); Total Carbohydrate 43g (16% DV); Dietary Fiber 5.5g (21% DV); Total Sugars 21g; Includes 2g Added Sugars (4% DV); Protein 9g; Vitamin D 0% DV; Calcium 4% DV; Iron 10% DV; Potassium 8% DV; Manganese 60% DV; Copper 35% DV; Molybdenum 30% DV.