October 4, 2012

Chewy Granola Bites


I love snacks. Growing-up I ate more snacks than anyone else I knew. I seemed to always be snacking. When I don't snack I get very cranky, not just a little bit but I literally go from nice to mean in a matter of seconds. A lot of it has to do with my blood sugar. When I was pregnant with my youngest son they had me monitor my blood sugar levels and it turned out that my blood sugar crashes relatively frequently. When my blood sugar crashes I turn nasty. So I make sure to keep high protein healthy snacks around to avoid these mood swings. My two boys can be just as grumpy as I can without snacks. In particular my oldest has a hard time focusing on school work and gets in far more trouble when he doesn't eat enough. I am always on the lookout for new recipes and last week I tried a new one for Chewy Granola Bites from Parents magazine, which looked perfect for snacking.

This recipe has 5 ingredients. It takes 20 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes approximately 30 balls. I made a number of modifications to this recipe. First I am not a fan of regular white rice cereal and my local grocery store didn't have brown rice cereal, so I substituted flax cereal instead. I chose to use almond butter, I prefer the taste and texture in recipes. Finally I ran out of granola (thanks to my husband and two boys eating most of the bag) so I only used a cup of granola and 1 1/2 cups of flax cereal. Instead of making thirty balls, I made my snacks larger and had a total of 15. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two boys loved these snacks. They literally ate them all in one afternoon. I like that they are no-bakes and take very little effort to put together. They are so easy that my oldest was able to help me with the entire recipe. Plus they are full of nutrition from the peanut butter and flax cereal.

For the recipe go to Chewy Granola Bites.

34 comments:

  1. I love chewy granola bars so this recipe will be good for me! Thanx for sharing. Just hopping by from the "Blog Hop Til You Drop", I'm your newest follower =-)
    ~Danielle~
    Check me out @ http://unorganizedchaosx3.blogspot.com
    {I always follow back}

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    1. I love chewy granola bars also :) Followed you back!

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  2. hi, many thanks for joining my site. I am your new follower by the way :)
    Those snacks are looking so super delicious.

    -Patty

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  3. I'm also like you, no bake is the way to go if possible. Our daughter is a snackaholic, I'm sure she would like these, thank for sharing.

    First time follower through Harvest Hop.

    Hope you can pay my blog a visit sometime.

    Have a great weekend.

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    1. My sons are huge snackers also, I think they are always eating :) Followed you back!

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  4. My daughter has been on a granola kick lately.. She will love these :)

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    1. My youngest has been on a granola kick also, he really liked these.

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  5. I am not familiar with the ingredient "rice syrup." Where did you find that? Do you think honey would work as a replacement?

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    1. It's brown rice syrup. I buy it at the the health food store. You could definitely substitute honey or molasses. sorghum would work also. I use all of them in various recipes calling for one or the other and they work fine :)

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    2. Thank you so much. I cannot wait to make these! I think they will be a big hit. :)

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    3. No problem :) Tell me how they turn out!

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  6. Hey there!! Found you from Our Everyday Harvest Blog Hop! Look forward to reading your blog in the future!!

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  7. Hi there. Following you back :) I can't wait to see what you post :)

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  8. Mmmm! I will try those! I have the same plates - Love them :)

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    1. I love the plates also, I got them on clearance for only 50 cents each! I love bargains :)

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  9. My sister loves snacks--these will be so much better for her than those store bought ones!

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    1. Both of my sons are big snackers also. I try to keep their snacks as healthy as possible since they eat all the time :)

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  10. Following you back. Also on bloggy moms. Interesting blog without the recipes. I enjoyed reading your rationale for the "why".

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    1. Thanks! I have gotten a lot of questions, so it was easiest to add the rationale section for people to read :)

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  11. wow so yummy granola bars you have there.more!!
    new follower here, mind if you follow back? tnx and more blessing on your blog.^_^

    just me,
    cheenee
    www.cheeneezcool18.blogspot.com

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  12. They look delish! I bet my daughters would love them!

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    1. They are definitely kid friendly according to my two sons :)

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  13. These look awesome. I don't have some of these ingredients here where I live, but I can easily substitute them. I love easy, healthy snacks. Thanks for following me! I'm following you back. Have a great weekend!!

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    1. I substitute all the time with what I have on hand :) Thanks for following me back!

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  14. looked yummy...followed you back sis
    great blog

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    1. They really are delicious, thanks for the follow back :)

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  15. These look perfect for the morning rush before school. My kids would love them! On my "to make" list. Thanks!

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    1. They would work really well for a before school quick meal. My kids always run behind in the morning :)

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