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The Free From Fairy

The Free From Fairy

Home ยป Free From Recipes ยป Chunky Monkey Granola Bars (Gluten, Dairy, Refined Sugar Free) & A Woeful Story

26th February 2016 ·

Chunky Monkey Granola Bars (Gluten, Dairy, Refined Sugar Free) & A Woeful Story

Dairy-free Recipes· Egg Free Recipes· Free From Recipes· Gluten Free Cake Recipes· Gluten Free Recipes· Gluten Free Snack Recipes· Gluten Free Vegan Recipes· Low FODMAP Recipes· Refined Sugar Free Recipes· Soya Free Recipes· Sweet Gluten Free Recipes

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I’ll start with the woe…

For the third time in a week Pickle stared at me with his big sad eyes and moaned in pain. ย “My tummy hurts” he complained as he flaked on the sofa looking pathetic and aiming for the TV to go on before school.

Now I never know quite when to believe Pickle. He is a fabulous actor and has been known to tell the odd little lie! So, the TV went on and I went about getting things ready as per every normal morning.

And then it was time to go to school.

He was still moaning so I suggested that if he wasn’t feeling better by the time we got to school he could come home again for a while until it was better; cue standing up to get shoes on and mummy shutting his little finger in the living room door.

The piercing yell that he let out let me know pretty damn quick that this was bad. ย Then there was the blood.

I scooped him up in my arms and rushed to the kitchen fearing the worst.

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Thankfully when I got him there and took a good look at the finger I could see that it was still all there, albeit with a big chunk taken out the top.

Heart racing I grabbed some kitchen towel, wrapped it around the finger and stuck it up in the air. ย At the same time I instructed Roo to get my homemade ‘boo hoo bag’ (a material bag filled with rice) out of the freezer.

Of course by this time we were running late to get Roo to school!

I ushered the little man into Rosie (our VW T25 van for those of you who don’t know…the mechanical love of my life!), defrosted the wind screen and drove around to school just in time to get Roo there!

There is a happy ending.

After about 30 minutes in front of Madagascar, Pickle declared himself to be “fine to go to school now” so, an hour late, I delivered a brave little man to his classroom!

With the woeful story out-of-the-way, I can move on to chunky monkey granola bars and the flash of inspiration that hit me at approximately 2.30pm a few days ago.

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The kids finish school at 3.15pm and the normal way of things is that I look at the clock at 3.10pm take a sharp intake of breath, grab my coat, yank my boots on and rush out of the house. ย I then arrive home at 3.30pm with two hungry kids in tow having given no thought whatsoever to what they will eat when they get home. ย This generally means mum’s arm gets twisted into them having their pudding early or them eating some rubbish like crisps!

Not on Tuesday. ย I looked at the clock at 2.30pm and had a flash of inspiration. ย Healthy, protein filled, sugarless granola bars that would surely satisfy their sweet needs whilst also keeping them going till tea time without any moans.

This is what I came up with. ย Ingenious I think and I’m pleased to say that they got the thumbs up all round! Toasting the dessicated coconut brings out its natural sweetness and that combined with the banana provides you with a ‘sweet’ treat without adding sugar. ย For those of you worried about them tasting too much of coconut, fear not…Mr M has been enjoying them and he hates coconut!

If you make them for yourself or your little monkeys let me know what you think. I love to get your feedback.

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Banana & Coconut Granola Bars AKA Chunky Monkey Granola Bars

Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Egg-free, Soya-free, Refined Sugar-free
4.20 from 5 votes
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Author Vicki Montague, FreeFromFairy

Ingredients
  

  • 100 g nuts of your choice
  • 50 g dessicated coconut
  • 25 g sunflower seeds
  • 25 g pumpkin seeds
  • 80 g coconut oil - melted
  • 175 g gluten-free oats
  • 2 bananas - mashed (weighing about 300g when peeled)
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 3 drops stevia or a sweetnener of your choice to taste - optional

Instructions
 

  • Place the nuts, seeds and coconut on a small baking tray and roast in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees (160 degree fan) for 5-10 minutes or until turning brown
  • Meanwhile in a large bowl, mash or puree the bananas along with the cinnamon and sweetener if using
  • Add the melted coconut oil to the banana mixture along with the oats. Stir well
  • Once the nut and seed mixture is toasted, add it to the mixture and stir to combine
  • Line the baking tray with greaseproof paper and spread the mixture out, pushing it firmly down to make sure it sticks together
  • Bake for 15 - 18 minutes until golden
  • Leave to cool before cutting into slices and storing in an airtight container
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Beverly says

    20th August 2020 at 6:57 pm

    For the final bake, is the oven still set at 180 degrees.

    • Vicki Montague says

      23rd August 2020 at 12:16 pm

      Yes it is.

  2. Alexandra Harpin says

    13th July 2016 at 11:52 am

    5 stars
    These were super yummy!!!
    Made a whole tray bake yesterday and it’s almost all gone!!

    I added some dried cranberries to just for my sweet tooth…….xx

    • Vicki Montague says

      13th July 2016 at 12:19 pm

      Hi Alexandra, great to hear from you. I’m glad you enjoyed the bars. I bet the addition of cranberries is delicious. I love the fact that people take my recipes and make them their own.

  3. Kate - glutenfreealchemist says

    1st March 2016 at 11:01 pm

    Ouch! I can feel the pain (of both of you). Poor Pickle…….
    The granola bars look great though!

    • Vicki Montague says

      2nd March 2016 at 2:56 pm

      Thanks Kate!

  4. Sarah, Maison Cupcake says

    1st March 2016 at 2:38 pm

    5 stars
    What a drama! I love your calm composition to get these made before pick up time! Thanks for submitting to Bake Of The Week, your recipe has been featured in the round up now live at 1st March Bake of the Week

    • Vicki Montague says

      2nd March 2016 at 2:55 pm

      Ah thank you so much Sarah! I will pop over and get more inspiration!

  5. MEl says

    28th February 2016 at 9:35 am

    Oh little man…. what a brave little soul to go to school in the end despite the sore finger!

    Your granola bars look delicious sweetie. xxx

    • Vicki Montague says

      29th February 2016 at 9:49 am

      I know he is very brave! He scared me again last night with a temperature of 40.3!

  6. Kyra @ Vie De La Vegan says

    26th February 2016 at 1:17 pm

    Such a great idea for a healthy after-school snack! I can’t relate at all to the “I’m too sick to go to school” thing as we homeschool, but I can definitely relate to the cranky hungry kids in the afternoon. I’ve made similar granola bars in the past but they have always had refined sugar in them, so I haven’t made them in a while – I’m definitely going to give this banana-sweetened bars a try! I’ve pinned the recipe ๐Ÿ˜€

    • Vicki Montague says

      29th February 2016 at 9:51 am

      Hi Kyra! Wow how do you homeschool and find time for your brilliant blog? Amazing! I hope you enjoyed these…

  7. Nicola Young says

    26th February 2016 at 10:29 am

    I love these. I make some similar but with apple puree in them. Hadn’t thought of banana.

    • Vicki Montague says

      26th February 2016 at 10:59 am

      I hadn’t thought of apple!!!! ๐Ÿ˜‰

4.20 from 5 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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Vicki Montague, the Free From Fairy

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Hi. I'm Vicki Montague, scientist and mum to 'Roo' (16) and 'Sunshine' (14). I'm a freelance recipe developer specialising in 'free from' food and spend many hours in my kitchen experimenting to create exciting healthy recipes that are all gluten-free & mainly dairy-free. In July 2016 I launched the world's first wholegrain, gluten-free and rice-free flour blends. In May 2018 I launched my first online programme to help people adapt to a gluten free life. I can be found at food festivals giving cookery demos and I love nothing more than teaching people how to cook and lead a positive wholesome life. Find out more about my story...

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