Gluten-Free Granola Bars. With Photos.

I honestly don't know where I got this recipe.  Of course, I changed it to suit me.  I had to take out all nuts, and substitute other things.  And because I'm on low- to no-sugar, I reduced the sweetener.  Does that make it mine?  If anyone knows who came up with a similar recipe, I'd like to know.  I'm not taking credit for this one, only that I changed it up enough to suit my – and my son's – dietary needs.

Did I mention that?  I took my son off gluten.  Wow – what a difference!  He doesn't look like he swallowed a football anymore.  Or disastrous bathroom visits.  Or all the temper tantrums.  Not that he had many of those.  It was more the glaring eyes and grouchiness that seemed to be happening constantly.  It was the easily frustrated little boy and give-up-ness that I saw in him on a daily basis.  Taking gluten out seems to have removed the main culprit that was causing that.  He is much happier and more relaxed.  Of course, then there's the dietary substitutions we need to make, which entails it's own frustrations because he does rather like sandwiches.  And it's hard to find or make a good sandwich bread that doesn't break the budget.  I'm working on that, and I might have found a good brand that works in a breadmaker.  The bread turns out a little sweet, but it doesn't have much in the way of crap substitutions... it's mostly rice flour and I can live with that.

But for other treats and snacks... I've dealt with the fact that gluten seems to be in everything, so I've just learned to go without.  But it's hard for a 7 year old who loves to snack.  Add to that, he can't have nuts at school – all nuts are banned, not just peanuts – and it's almost impossible to find a GF nut-free snack.

So I made our own.  Here it is.  (And I took photos this time. Yay for me!)

GF Granola Bars

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2 cups organic GF oats
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds

Chop up the pumpkin seeds a bit, and mix these dry ingredients together.  Toast them for 10 minutes.



1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup cranberries
1/3 cup black currants
1/4 cup hemp hearts
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Chop up the cranberries and raisins to make them a bit smaller, and mix all these together.





(Note the fancy chopping action.  Which necessitated left-handed photography.  Yes, I do it all.)



3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

Warm the honey and butter until it's all melty and mix until smooth.  Add the vanilla and salt and mix again.



Add the dried fruit mixture into it.



Note to yourself how the chocolate chips melted straight away and curse yourself for this foolishness.

Blend the toasted oat mixture into this sweet mess.



Add more chocolate chips.

Spread into pan.



Note to self that the extra chocolate chips also melted and give up on the chocolate chips.  Make a mental note to add them at the last minute next time.

Bake at 300 F for 25-30 minutes.  (Forget to turn the oven down from 350 and actually bake at that temperature with no problems.)  Let cool for 1 - 3 hours, depending on how cold your house is, so that you can cut them into squares without crumbling or shattering.  It's a fine line.

Enjoy!