While I typically would clean my house when I am stressed out or emotional rather than cook, this week I found myself baking my feelings away on a rainy Monday evening.
Since the thought of baking powder and baking soda really does not lure me into the kitchen (too technical), I thought that this recipe that I found on the No Meat Athlete website sounded more up my alley... Who doesn't want a chickpea in their granola bar?!
**Picture c/o No Meat Athlete
Here is what you need:
- 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp natural sugar (I didn't have this so I used maple syrup)
-1 1/2 cups oats
- 1 cup whole grain cereal (I used some Organic Flax flakes, anything will do)
- 1 cup dried fruit (I used raisins)
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tbs canola oil
- 1 tbs ground flax seed
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
Mix the ground flax seed with a 1/4 cup of warm water, set aside to thicken.
Toss the chickpeas and maple syrup and 1 tsp of cinnamon. Bake for 10 minutes, stir around in the pan, then bake for another 10 minutes. Add oats to the pan and bake for 5 more minutes, stirring once.
Stir together the peanut butter, honey, canola oil and flax paste.
Combine the chickpeas/oats, cereal, dried fruits and remaining cinnamon.
Add the wet ingredients and combine.
Press the mixture into a greased pan (I used an 8x8). Really press it and pack it as hard as you can.
Refrigerate until firm and then cut into bars.
