Chewy Strawberry Granola Bars | Yogurt Coating
These strawberry granola bars are sweet, chewy, and packed with strawberry flavor. Dip them in a tangy yogurt coating to finish!
Servings: 10 bars
Ingredients
For the Granola Bars
- 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats gluten free if necessary
- ¾ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1 ½ cups crisp rice cereal (like Erewhon brown rice cereal) gluten free if necessary
- ½ cup superfinely ground blanched almond flour
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 ounces freeze-dried strawberries (I buy mine either at nuts.com or Trader Joe’s)
- 5 tablespoons virgin coconut oil (or Spectrum nonhydrogenated vegetable oil—or unsalted butter)
- ¾ cup coconut palm sugar
- ¾ cup honey
For the Yogurt Coating
- 6 ounces Greek-style plain yogurt (anything from 0% fat to 4% fat—your choice)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled (or virgin coconut oil) (or Spectrum nonhydrogenated vegetable oil)
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
Make the granola bars.
- Preheat your oven to 275°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with two sheets of unbleached parchment paper, crisscrossed in the pan, with enough paper to overhang the edges, and set it aside.
- Line a large rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper, and place the oats and coconut flakes on it. Shake the oats and coconut into an even layer, and place int he preheated oven. Bake until the oats and coconut are just beginning to brown and the oats are becoming fragrant, taking care not to let them burn (about 7 minutes).
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a large bowl.
- Add the rice cereal, almond flour, salt, baking soda and freeze-dried strawberries, and mix to combine well. Set the bowl aside.
- In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, place the coconut oil, palm sugar and honey, and melt over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth.
- Pour the melted coconut oil and sugar mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix to combine well, making sure to moisten all the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.
- Scrape the mixture into the prepared square baking pan and press down very firmly and evenly to compress the granola bars into a very compact, even layer in the pan.
- Cover the baking pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very firm (about 2 hours).
Make the yogurt coating.
- If your Greek yogurt seems relatively wet, place a cheesecloth or tea towel over a fine mesh sieve, position the sieve over a large bowl and transfer the yogurt to it.
- Close the cheesecloth or tea towel around the yogurt, and squeeze the yogurt, allowing it to drain through the sieve until it is as thick as possible. Place the yogurt in a large bowl, add the melted butter and mix to combine. The mixture should be thick and smooth.
- Add the confectioners’ sugar to the bowl and whisk vigorously until well-combined. Cover the bowl and allow the yogurt coating to sit while the bars finish cooling. The yogurt mixture should thicken as it sits.
Finish the bars.
- Once the bars are chilled, remove them from the refrigerator and lift them out of the baking pan by holding onto the overhung parchment paper.
- Slice into 10 equal rectangles and place on a large sheet of parchment paper. Dip one side of each bar into the thickened yogurt coating and invert, yogurt side up, back onto the parchment. Allow to sit at room temperature until set.
