I found some great grain free chewy granola bars a couple of weeks ago, but they were sweetened with honey and maple syrup, which doesn’t fit very well into my eating plan. I decided to make my own based on my multi-seed cracker recipe and using unsweetened apple sauce to add the chewiness created by the honey and maple syrup.

I used the raw nuts and seeds I had on hand: cashews, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and pepitas along with unsweetened shredded coconut. I think the bars would have been better if I had lightly toasted the nuts and seeds first. I also didn’t like the pepitas in the bars so removed them from the recipe and increased the coconut. You can use any mix of nuts and seeds you like as long as the proportions stay the same. I plan to use almonds rather than cashews next time. For slightly sweeter, more sugar-like flavor 2-4 tablespoons of stevia-erythritol blend can be added.

1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped cashews
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1 egg
2 Tbs ground cinnamon
2 tsp salt
1 tsp stevia extract
1 tsp vanilla extraxt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare a quarter sheet baking pan (13″x9″) with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and oil the sides of the pan with coconut oil. In a medium bowl, add all the dry ingredients. Stir until well-combined and all the nuts and seeds are evenly coated in cinnamon. Add apple sauce, egg, stevia extract, and vanilla extract. Stir until well-combined. Turn the nut and seed mixture out on the prepared baking sheet, spreading it evenly with the back of a spoon or off-set spatula. Press down firmly to pack down the nuts and seeds. With a sharp knife, cut the dough into 16 even sized bars. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the bars are golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before turning out the bars and breaking them apart. Store in an air tight container for up to a week; refrigerate or freeze for a longer shelf life.