Chocolate Chip Pecan Granola Bars- My 1st post!

I am in no means a workaholic. Especially when it comes to working a shitty part time job at a deceptive ice cream franchise.. in order to keep my sanity and not bite a rude customer's head off I occasionally beg a coworker to cover a shift. Last week I was in a lazy, crabby funk and spent an afternoon prying and pleading my coworker to get a shift covered. In a moment of desperation I offered up a sweet "healthy" treat to seal the deal after what seemed to be the impending doom of actually working; thankfully she took the bait. I spent my salvaged day the best way possible, getting in a workout and celebrating in front of my laptop sifting through recipe after recipe for hours. Literally hours. It was glorious.

Eventually I followed through on my end of the deal and chose to whip up some granola bars, knowing that my coworker is usually starving and snackless when she gets in to work. In all truth these granola bars really aren't that healthy, they have added sugars, chocolate, and oil, but in moderation these will do for a sweet tooth craving fix and an energy boost. Plus eating one of these is infinitely better than having that one free ice cream per shift (thousands upon thousands of calories). Must resist the temptation. After eating the ice cream you feel like a big, fat, worthless slob anyways. Totally not worth the 2 minutes of bliss while wolfing it down. I'll take the granola bar instead, thanks.

While I was making these granola bars I completely forgot to add in a couple health food touches that I normally have on hand such as whole and ground flax seeds, chia seeds, and  sunflower seeds to add some health benefits and texture. Must have been in some kind of oblivious stupor. Will do next time.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Granola Bars: Recipe adapted from For the Love of Cooking

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats
1 scant cup pecans, chopped
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet, dark, carob, sugar free, doesn't matter)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x9 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Put oats and pecans on a baking sheet and toast in oven for roughly 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While oats are toasting, combine oil, brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, salt and vanilla in a medium saucepan on medium heat until brown sugar is dissolved.

Once the oats are done, turn oven down to 300 degrees F and add oats to the sugar mixture and stir to combine, adding the coconut. Press mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and press them into oat mixture (this could also be done post baking for chips to hold their shape). Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.


Cool on wire rack until firm and cool to the touch. Turn out onto a cutting board and slice into desired shape. Store granola bars individually in plastic wrap at room temperature.