Third Incarnation Granola Bars

For the past month, I have baked several batches of these little gems and used the yoginis in my classes as a focus group. Finally, we've reached a consensus! These don't taste like store bought "candy" granola bars, nor are they boring. This recipe is a “no-fail” and you can make changes as necessary to taste. Just keep the ratios of wet to dry the same and you’re good to go. Here’s the version I liked the best!

Dry Ingredients
2 cups rolled oats
½ cup wheat germ (Ground flaxseed is another good option)
2 Scoops Vanilla Protein Powder (soy based - or omit)
½ cup shelled sunflower seeds (4 oz bag of Snackers at Supercentre)
½ cup unsalted peanuts (4 oz bag of...)
½ cup toasted pumpkin seeds (4 oz...)
1 cup dried Craisins (Ocean Spray are by far the sweetest – worth the extra $)

Wet Ingredients
¼ cup Honey
¼ cup Lite Pancake Syrup
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon margarine

Preheat oven to 350

Place the pumpkin seeds on a cookie sheet and spray with a little non-stick spray. Bake approximately 5 minutes or until they start popping. Remove and let cool. (If you decide to use cashews or walnuts – both equally delicious in this recipe – no need to toast)


Spread rolled oats and wheat germ/flaxseed across a cookie sheets and place in oven for about 10 minutes. Careful not to burn the oats – I did… twice! Turn the oven down to 300 and dump the cookie sheet contents into a big bowl. Add all of the nuts, protein powder and dried cranberries. Combine this mixture by hand and set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat all of the wet ingredients until the brown sugar has dissolved completely.

Remove the wet ingredients from the stove and immediately pour over the dry ingredients. Stir until the nuts and oats are evenly coated.

Spread the mixture into a 8X11 Pyrex. I tried several times to tamp down the mixture at this stage to no avail. It’s far too sticky. Just do your best and then place the Pyrex in the oven for 20 minutes.

With 10 minutes left to go,feel free to tamp down the mixture into the Pryex to your heart’s content. Things are less sticky at this juncture.

Remove the Pyrex from the oven and let sit until completely cooled. These need to come together and firm up. Seriously. Once cool, cut into 24 pieces – six rows of four squares. At this serving size, the nutritional values are listed below to the best of my ability to calculate them.

Store in a Ziploc or air tight container in the fridge.


Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 bars

Amount per Serving

Calories 121

Calories from Fat 39.4

Total Fat 4.38g 6%
Saturated Fat 0.64g 3%
Cholesterol 1.46mg 0%
Sodium 11.08mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 16.56g 5%
Dietary Fiber 1.67g 6%
Sugars 4.36g
Protein 4.37g 8%

Est. Percent of Calories from:
Fat 32% Carbs 54% Protein 14%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs.