Park Bars
We definitely like to get our snack on around here.
Second breakfast.
After-school.
Before bed.
Snack. Snack. Snickety snack.
The only thing I hear more than “Mom! Can I have a snack?” is “Mom! Can I have a puppy?”
(No.)
Actually, it’s a tie between “Can I have a puppy?” and “We…are never, ever, ever….getting back together.”
“Like……ever.”
Thanks, Taylor.
But these bars were made for the park.
Ski parks.
Neighborhood parks.
Dare I say it….theme parks?
Yes, I dare.
These crispy, crunchy, sweet and chewy bars are a snacker’s dream.
They are great at home.
I can vouch for that.
But I predict they’ll be very popular as we hike around in the California sunshine later this week, splashin’, screamin’ and soakin’ up the magic with our best friends and their kiddos.
Oh yes. This is going to be the very best trip.
Like……ever.
Park Bars
Makes 15 bars
****View Nutrition Facts****
- 1 c. almonds, chopped
- 1 c. buckwheat groats
- 2/3 c. unsweetened, shredded coconut
- 1 c. oats (gluten free, if necessary)
- 1/4 c. flax seed meal
- 1 1/2 c. brown rice crisps cereal
- 1 t. salt
- 1/3 c. dried unsweetened cherries, chopped
- 1/3 c. honey or brown rice syrup
- 1/4 c. maple syrup
- 1/2 c. almond butter
- 1 t. vanilla extract
You can substitute any nuts, nut butter, cereal and/or dried fruit you like in these bars, depending on your snacking tastes. You can also speed up the process by not baking these bars and serving straight from the fridge, but I find they hold together better and taste a bit richer when baked.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds, buckwheat, and coconut on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for 7-10 minutes, stirring at least once to ensure even browning.
Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine oats, flax meal, cereal, salt and dried cherries. Add toasted nut mixture.
In a small saucepan, combine honey or brown rice syrup, maple syrup and almond butter. Heat over medium to medium high heat until mixture has thickened and come to a low boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Pour over cereal and nut mixture and stir until evenly coated.
Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper and press cereal mixture firmly into pan. Bake, if desired, for 20-25 minutes, until bars are set and browned. Let bars cool completely and then transfer to the refrigerator for at least an hour before cutting. Keep bars refrigerated until eating.
Oh how I wish I could get my kid to eat nut butters and coconut. He’s such a pill these days.
I can make them for myself, though, right?
Yes. And you should!
But honestly, you could leave out the coconut and add more oats or nuts and I promise the nut butter is undetectable!
We shall see…. I could rewrite The Princess and the Pea with him as the main character.
I’m glad you made this comment, because my husband would love these but he hates coconut. He loves oatmeal. I’ll be able to make the swap fairly easy now. Thanks!
These look and sound really good and healthy! But I’ve never heard of buckwheat groats. What substitution would you suggest, if I can’t find that?
You can substitute more oats or nuts, but you can find buckwheat at most natural foods/health food stores, often in bulk!
If you look in the ethnic food aisle you’ll find boxes of ‘kasha’ in the Jewish section. Wolff’s is the brand, I believe.
Thanks!
These sound wonderful! Where can I find buckwheat groats? I’ve never heard of them. Have a great time on your trip!
You can substitute more oats or nuts, but you can find buckwheat at most natural foods/health food stores, often in bulk!
Yum! What a great idea.
hahaa can relate to the taylor stuff, all my nieces sing is that ! these bars look perfect to bring to school thank you !
The magic awaits you, and so do I. Hurry up and get here already!! Best week ever!!!
I’m coming!!!!! (Hope you are hungry…half my suitcase is food.)
What else was packed in that suitcase? We are headed to Disney in a couple months and I’m looking for ideas to bring with!
Food ideas, that is
.
Park bars, fruit leathers, Larabars, pre-measured oatmeal in baggies, dried fruits + nuts, rice cakes & nut butter packets.
These look amazing Mama Pea!! I hope you and the Peas have a fabulous holiday. It sounds like you’ve got tons of fun ahead (and snacks to fuel you through it!)
These look amazing! I could totally use one as a post-shoveling snack!
Cool! I have 2 preschoolers…a 3 & 4 year old that are ALL about snack time. I’ve been making so many of your online ridiculously delicious recipes since I discovered your website several months ago. Just finally ordered & preordered your first & now second book thru Amazon. Thank you for giving me the tools to feed my family these plant friendly foods.
P.S. Puppies are good for the soul. I had a yellow lab for 14 years thru my single days…then married…then baby days. She was my first baby & passed away about 2 years ago. I wasn’t going to get a puppy until my other babies were totally potty trained. For the past year all I’ve heard is “I’ve been a good boy, I want a puppy” “Is Santa bring us a puppy” So this year, is the year, we will bring a new “baby” into the family…be it a furry one with a tail. FYI…they potty train & obey commands ALOT quicker than the rug rats. Unless you’re a cat lady…get the kids a dog… you’ll be the best mom EVER!
My offer of loaning my dog Margot to you still stands–I bet she’d love Disneyland…and a few bites of these bars, actually.
yay i just preordered. i’m so excited for your new book!
oops, i was off by one post. lol, oh well.
I’m so excited for y’alls trip! Disneyland is my favorite – the weather can’t be beat, and with these bars? YES PLEASE
I really wish I was better at baking. I love to cook, but when it comes to baking anything, I just mess it up. I blame my oven. But it might be because I try to adapt a lot and the ingredients don’t end up reacting the way I want them to. Anyway, I hope you and your family have a safe trip. Have fun and take care!
These sound perfect! And, it’s just the recipe I needed as we prepare for our own sunshine vacation! We won’t be seeing Mickey and Minnie this go around but Shamoo and dolphins are on the theme park list this year! I want to make sure we pack lots of healthy snacks this vacation! Thank you!!!
ok first recipe ever to make me add buckwheat groats to my grocery list.
There are never enough (good) granola bar recipes in my opinion. Love this one though! Coconut and nut butter are essential ingredients in a bar recipe.
How good do these bars hold together after baked? They look great, but I don’t want to make a bar that may crumble will traveling…
Oh these sound so good. And I have buckwheat grouts. Lots of them. I got a bit to excited one weekend at the local natural food store with a sale.
I’ll have to hit up the bulk bins again for some buckwheat groats! I would totally grab one of these for breakfast…and maybe go to the park after
Oh we are waaay into snickity snacks over here, too. I think I might actually like snacks better than meals. I need to find those illusive (to me) buckwheat groats (could probably snag some online in less than a minute, huh?)
Yummy! Have fun!
Mmmm I love snack bars and love using brown rice krispies in snack bars too – the lightness and crunch of them are a great complement to richer, heavier ingredients. These sound delish!
Oooooh it’s 10.30pm and now I really want a snack! Yum I’m making these tomorrow! Thanks once again:) enjoy your sunny trip.
Since I already have puppies, I suppose a snack will have to do and this one looks great! Granola bars of some sort have been on my “to make” list for weeks
I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I’ve probably been singing T.Swift’s song about as much as your girls. My roommate made a joke once when she was babysitting her young cousin that, “Taylor Swift is being played constantly. It feels like our apartment.” lol
These bars look amazing. I’m always in search of good snacks!
Can someone tell me what is brown rice cereal, not sure? Sort of like rice krispies or not?
Just like it! If you can’t find brown rice cereal, just use the kind mom did
this looks so yum! came across your blog from another & so glad i did! can’t wait to try some of your recipes!
Thanks so much, Cindy!
This looks wonderful. Lower calories and more nutritious than the ready made bars you buy at the store. Thanks, we will have to give them a try. It is good to read some of the other comments to find where to get the ingredients. Looking forward to trying them.
I baked these twice already, and I plan to continue making a batch every week for my boyfriend and I to split for our lunches! These bars are that addicting! I did notice that my bars turned out somewhat hard (just to cut apart, not to chew), not as gooey as your pictures above. Are the pictures the baked or nonbake version?
Mine are baked! Glad you guys love them too.
I’m dying to try these bars but we have a flax allergy in our family. Any ideas on what to sub? Or could I just leave the flax meal out?
Chia seeds would be awesome! I’d use the same amount. Good luck!
Yum! Made these over the weekend and posted about them here: http://delicious-knowledge.com/?p=2986
We ended up crumbling 1/2 the pan up to use as granola. best idea ever! I love groats and will make anything with them. This recipe is a repeater!
Glad you liked them, Alex, thanks!