Cranberry Orange Granola Bars
Inspired by my favorite Christmas cookie, these cranberry orange granola bars are sweet, tart, toasty, soft, nutritious, satisfying, and absolutely delicious! 168 calories per bar.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1/4 cup almond flour or almond meal
- 1/4 cup hemp seeds
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup toasted walnuts
- 1/2 cup toasted pecans
- 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
- 1/3 cup cookie butter (or nut butter, I recommend avoiding peanut butter for flavor)
- 1/4 cup agave nectar
- 1 tablespoon orange zest from 1 medium orange
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Whisk together the orange juice and ground flaxseed in a small bowl and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the oats, almond flour or meal, hemp seeds, brown sugar, and salt. Place the walnuts, pecans, and cranberries in a food processor and pulse about 6 times, until broken down into small pieces but not mush. Add walnut mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix everything together.
- Add the cookie butter, agave, and orange zest into the bowl with the flaxseed mixture. Whisk to combine. Add to the dry ingredients. Mix well. I start with a spoon and then switch to my hands to smoosh everything together.
- Line an 8x11” or similar size baking dish with parchment paper. Pour the granola mixture into the dish. Firmly press the mixture down, spreading evenly to all edges of the dish, packing in tight, and smoothing the top. Cut into 12 bars. Lift the paper and bars out of the dish, and place on a baking sheet. (Cutting in the baking dish helps the bars keep their shape, while baking on the sheet helps them cook more evenly.)
- Bake for 20 minutes. Move the parchment paper and cooked bars to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before dividing into bars. Store in the fridge.