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BBQ Granola Bars

These unique sweet and savory granola bars are incredibly delicious! They're easy to make, and easy to customize. See notes below the recipe for tips and tricks.
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Servings 10 Bars

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1.5 cup rolled oats
  • .5 cup hemp seeds
  • .5 cup chopped pitted medjool dates
  • .25 cup almond flour
  • .25 cup sunflower seeds
  • .25 cup pumpkin seeds
  • .25 cup peanuts or pistachios or a mix of both
  • .5 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • .5 teaspoon Garlic powder
  • .5 teaspoon onion powder
  • 2 pinches salt
  • 3 tablespoons BBQ sauce
  • 3 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons tahini
  • .5 teaspoon liquid smoke

Instructions
 

  • Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the ground flaxseeds and water together in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
  • Mix all of the dry ingredients (oats through salt) in a large bowl. Whisk the flaxseed/water mixture again, then add the BBQ sauce, maple syrup, tahini, and liquid smoke to the same bowl. Whisk all wet ingredients together, then add to the dry ingredients. Mix everything together until all dry ingredients are moist.
  • Line an 8x11 or similar size casserole dish with parchment paper. Press the mixture into the lined dish, pressing firmly and smoothing out the top as much as possible. Using a dough scraper (or any blade you can press straight down into the mixture without a sawing motion) cut the bars into your desired size and shape. Carefully lift the parchment paper out of the baking dish and place the paper and cut bars on a cookie sheet. Gently separate the bars, creating a small amount of space between them. This process of cutting and separating the bars before cooking reduces the risk of them crumbling when cutting, and allows for more even cooking.
  • Optional: sprinkle the tops of the bars with paprika for garnish. Bake for 25 minutes, or until edges are browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before gently lifting the parchment paper to a cooling rack. Allow the bars to cool completely before handling. They will harden once cool.

Notes

Feel free to swap ingredients i.e. different nuts and seeds, dried fruits, etc. When swapping ingredients, pay attention to size, consistency, wet vs. dry etc. to ensure the finished bars have the appropriate consistency.
The depth and width of the casserole dish you initially press your bars into will determine their thickness, and potentially their size, shape, and how many you’re able to cut. This could impact cooking time and how soft or dry they are. Experiment with different sizes to see which result you like best. You could even shape your "bars" with a tablespoon or double tablespoon to make round granola cookies.
Different brands of ingredients will vary slightly, resulting in slightly different results, i.e. some brands of tahini are thicker/thinner than others, some BBQ sauces are sweeter than others. Experiment and adjust accordingly.