Re-defining granola and protein bars

I haven't posted here in almost a year!
The Florida busy season was kind to me and I've been running around slinging organic veggies and teaching workshops.

Now that the summer is nearly upon us again and things are slowing down, I should have time to blog again!

So I'm starting with my latest kitchen concoction craze!

I've been cutting grains out of my diet and adding plant based proteins to support my new weight lifting lifestyle. These little gems are an example of my Grain-free granola/protein bars!

Thanks to my trusty dehydrator I've been able to make enough variations of this portable and palatable treat to keep from getting bored of it!

The most important ingredient(s) in dehydrated bar making is a binder of some sort. A binder serves as a "glue" to hold all of the ingredients together My two preferred choices are dates and chia seeds. I use chia in every single bar I make and I often skip the dates to cut out some sugary calories. Also, a bar with dates tends to be a more chewy bar where as one without can be dehydrated down to a much crunchier bar.

This particular batch is made from:
1/2 cup chia seeds soaked in one cup water for 20 minutes or until a gel has formed 
one cup raw soaked almonds chopped (I soak them for at least 12 hours and pulse them in the blender or food processor)
one cup raw filberts chopped (you can soak these as well for easier digestion, this batch I didn't soak the filberts because I forgot! Fortunately nuts are forgiving)
1/2 cup dried cranberries ( I get these in the bulk section of the grocery store. i prefer to use dried cherries but they were out of stock this time around)
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw *LOCAL* honey (I emphasize local here because A- I'm supporting local bee keepers and B- because eating local honey is a great way to combat seasonal allergies)
1 tbs coco powder (the unsweetened baking sort. Using raw cocao nibs is preferred, but again... the store was out so I improvised)
1 tbs pumpkin pie spice

I mixed everything together and spread it and press out on parchment paper on my dehydrator trays at about 1/4 of an inch thick. Things tend to shrink a lot from dehydration so a thick spread is important.

I'm a fairly impatient person so I set my dehydrator to it's max temp, which is 155 degrees and I left it on over night, about 10 hours. Then the next morning I peeled the slabs of granola off the paper and cut them into bars. I wanted them a bit crunchier so I placed the bars back in to dehydrate for a couple more hours.

This is a really great source of protein and essential fats. The chia helps curb hunger and the cranberries help curb a sweet tooth!

The best part about making these bars is the variations are endless. You can substitute nuts and flavorings and fruits into a whole array of consistencies and flavors!

They make a great pre or post work out treat and are a much appreciated addition to a grain free/gluten free diet. YUM!