I find it mildly alarming that as I get older, I become more like Mama Lin.
The ugly:
- Worrying too much – Sometimes, I catch myself in the middle of savasana pondering whether a recipe photo looks good enough for the next day’s post.
- Stuffing my refrigerator with food – For as long as I can remember, Mama Lin packed every inch of her refrigerator with food, and I have picked up that habit. I always hear people complaining about running out of food in the house, but that is NEVER a problem with me.
- Shoving food in front of my guests – It is an affront to Mama Lin if you set foot under her roof and refuse to eat anything. She insists on having it her way, and she is persistent. (Of course, she does all of this in the cheerful, Mama Lin kind of way.) Now, I feel the same impulse to offer all my food for anyone who visits me even when they’re not hungry.
The good awesome:
- Finding joy in cooking and kitchen experiments.
- Packing a buffet of snacks before a flight or a long car ride.
My snack pack always includes nuts, dried fruit (usually mangoes), snack bars, and an apple for good measure. No matter if my trip is 2 hours long or 12 hours long, the snack pack stays the same.
These chocolate coconut snack bars are making it to my next trip. I’ve made many batches of these snack bars already, and they’ve inched their way to the top of my list of homemade nibbles. These snack bars are:
- Chewy: the brown rice syrup and peanut butter binds the ingredients together but doesn’t harden into a brick.
- Crunchy: the Kashi GOLEAN cereal doesn’t buckle under the pressure of the wet ingredients and retains much of its crunch.
- Nutty: all snack bars should contain healthy fats.
- Chocolate-y: this is a given with any treat I make, really.
If you’re down for chewy granola bars like I am, give these bars a try!
Chocolate Coconut Snack Bars
Makes 12 bars.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (120g) rolled oats
- 1 1/4 cups (65g) Kashi GOLEAN cereal,
- 1/2 cup (60g) chopped pecans
- 1/4 cup (20g) shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1/4 cup 60g mini vegan chocolate chips (use regular chips if not vegan)
- 1/2 cup (120ml) brown rice syrup
- 1/3 cup (80ml) peanut butter
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (80g) mini vegan chocolate chips for drizzling (optional)
Instructions
- Line a baking dish with parchment paper. I used an 8×11 inch baking dish, but you can also use a square baking dish instead. I cut up 2 sheets of parchment paper and laid them like a cross over the baking dish. The granola bars come out much easier if you line the dish.
- In a large bowl, mix the rolled oats, cereal, pecans, coconut, and 1/4 cup of chocolate chips.
- In a small saucepan, heat the brown rice syrup and peanut butter over medium-low heat. Stir them together so that you get a smooth batter. When the mixture starts to bubble, turn the heat off. Mix in the vanilla extract. Allow the mixture to cool for around 15 minutes before mixing it with the dry ingredients. The chocolate chips will melt if you stir in the wet mixture too quickly.
- Pour the cereal mix into the baking dish. Use a small piece of parchment paper to help you pack in the cereal mix. I find using the parchment paper is better than shaping the mix with wet hands.
- Place the dish into the freezer for 10-15 minutes so that the bars can firm up.
- Take the dish out of the freezer. Hold on to the parchment paper, and lift the entire block of cereal mixture from the dish. Cut the block into 12 bars.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, melt 1/3 cup of chocolate chips for a minute. Continue melting the chocolate chips at 15-second intervals until nearly all the chips look glossy. Stir the chips together until you get a creamy mixture, and drizzle on top of the bars. Let the melted chocolate set before wrapping them.
- To store the granola bars, wrap them individually with plastic wrap and put all the bars in an airtight container (I used a freezer bag). Refrigerate the bars for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
1. Loosely adapted from the Present Glo Bars recipe from The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon.[br][br]2. STORAGE: I’ve stored these bars in room temperature and in the refrigerator, and I find that I prefer them chilled. The structure of these bars hold up much better when they’re in the refrigerator.
Did you make this recipe?Tag @hellolisalin or leave a star rating and comment on the blog!
Looking for more snack ideas?
5-Ingredient Sweet & Salty Granola Bars
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Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
These are lovely snack bars! I eat a bar a day, but I am always too lazy to ever prepare my own! I know it would be worth it though!
Lisa says
I make these once a week, and it’s totally worth it!
Ashley | Spoonful of Flavor says
I love snack bars! They are the perfect crunchy treat. I wish I had these for a snack right now.
Lisa says
I still remember those delicious mango snack bars you sent to me months ago! We need to do a snack bar swap some time soon!
Ashley | Spoonful of Flavor says
A snack bar swap sounds like a great idea!
Allie | BakingAMoment says
These are the prettiest snack bars ever! I’m in love with that chocolate drizzle on top!
Lisa says
That chocolate drizzle was definitely a last minute addition, but it definitely made the snack bars even better!
genevieve @ gratitude & greens says
These sound incredible! They’d be such a great snack to take to work- even though I work in a kitchen, I don’t get to munch very often (unfortunately). This would solve all my hungry issues!
Lisa says
Yes, these sure would! It’s also a bit ironic that you work in the kitchen all day but don’t get a chance to eat that often!
Zainab says
They say we turn into our mothers as we age! Always disturbing when i think of it lol! These bars are a great idea!!
Lisa says
It’s true. I used to make fun of my mother for her quirks, except I’m becoming just like that, too!
GiGi Eats says
I would definitely eat enough of these to make a MEALLLLLLL!
Lisa says
Yes! Chocolate, peanut butter, and coconut = best meal ever, right??
Arman @ thebigmansworld says
Lol, we both discuss snacking in our posts today- we must be cut from the same bone, ALWAYS carrying snacks!
Genius idea to use kashi go lean- I have an (expired) box from my trip to America in 2012. It still will taste good. 😉
Lisa says
YES! We always have our mind on our snacks and our snacks on our mind.
P.S. Why haven’t you eaten that box of Kashi yet?!
Claire says
Cannot believe how amazing these are! I’m always on the lookout for really tasty low/no-sugar snacks and this has become my favourite. I used puffed rice instead of GOLean Cereal (we tend to avoid dried fruits because of the high sugar content, and I wanted them NOW so used what I had on hand anyway!). They tasted incredible. Will definitely be putting these in my regular meal plan for easy go-to snacks. Do they freeze well?
Oh, and thank you thank you thank you! 🙂
Lisa says
Claire, you totally made my day!! I’ve done the bars with a different brand of puffed rice, and it tasted great, too! I haven’t tried freezing these before, and my instinct is to say that no, they won’t taste well. The main problem is going to be the cereal—I think it would be way to soggy when you defrost it. When I make these next time, I’ll be sure to freeze one and see how it goes. You’re welcome, and thank you so much for letting me know how they turned out!!
Kristine says
Hi! I’ve been looking for a way to use several boxes that I got on sale. It is good just as regular cereal but has so much fiber I can’t eat much and they will expire soon. Can you substitute agave or maple syrup for the brown rice syrup?
Lisa Lin says
Hi, Kristine. The bars won’t stick together as well with agave or maple sryup and will likely crumble apart.