Chewy Coconut Oat Granola Bars Stuffed with Chocolate Date Caramel
It’s like a granola cookie sandwich stuffed with chocolate caramel.
Oh so reminiscent of an ice cream sandwich, except minus the ice cream and cookies. But the sandwich part is dead on. It’s the granola bar of all granola bars. And it’s chewy, which is the mark of anything delicious. Except for like crispy, fried cheese that sneaks out of your grilled cheese in the pan and turns into the most crispy perfect thing. But for everything else, chewy is where it’s at.
I think I choose to start nearly every sentence with a conjunction word (i.e. and, but) because I specifically remember my 6th grade English teacher telling me not to. Gah I hate grammar. (I actually just spelt grammar as grammer…thank you, spell check).
So these are kinda like the granola bar version of better-than-crack brownies because they have chocolate and peanut butter and layers. Practically the same thing. Practically. I was gonna name them better-than-crack granola bars but that’s inappropriate and Andrew told me it sounded trashy. What a party pooper. So we’ll just stick with the super long 10 word title.
There’s probably some rule against having long recipe titles. I never really went through a rebellious phase…maybe this is it. Maybe this is the time to get a tattoo too…not. I do wanna get my ears pierced so I can blow my moola on some expensive Kendra Scott earrings. I had my ears pierced in middle school, but they reacted to all metals except solid gold. Like the freaking expensive stuff. So I just let them close up.
But back in the day there wasn’t Kendra Scott. And now there is. That changes things. Not all trendy things are good. But black bean brownies are good and those are trendy and for seriously those earring are gorgeous so they totes should be trendy too.
I always find granola bar pictures to be boring. But I figured that since chocolate is the farthest thing from boring that’d help the aesthetically pleasing aspect of these bars. This month’s Recipe Redux theme was bars & bites. I made cookie dough bites last week so I figured I’d switch it up and make some bars for this week.
These thick, chewy bars make the perfect snack or dessert. But I’ve even had them for breakfast. These are better than a granola bar…they’re like oat-filled blondies with chocolate.
Chewy Coconut Oat Granola Bars Stuffed with Chocolate Date Caramel
Yield: 9-12 bars
Ingredients:
DRY INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup nuts or seeds (I used a mix of pistachios, sunflower seeds and pecans)
1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 banana, mashed (~1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons)
1/3 cup coconut oil, soft
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup dates, pitted & packed
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
2 tablespoons salted peanut butter
Directions:
- In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into dry and completely combine.
- In a separate microwave-safe bowl, place chopped dates and cover with water. Microwave for 3-4 minutes, or until water is boiling. Allow dates to sit in hot water for 5 minutes. Drain off water. Use the back of a fork to mash the dates. Melt dark chocolate chips and stir into the mashed dates. Stir in peanut butter.
- Line a 8x8-inch dish with wax paper. Press half of the granola bar dough into bottom of the dish. Spread the chocolate date caramel evenly over the granola bar layer. Top with another layer of the granola bar dough. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Cut into 9-12 granola bars and wrap in plastic wrap. Store in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for longer.
chewy oaty chocolaty love.