Hello there! It has been quite some time since I last posted but I am excited to be back! A lot has happened in the past year and a half. I gave birth (yeah-thats him up there…all 14 amazing months of him!), we moved to Massachusetts, and both Brian and I got new jobs. But, enough about me…on to the new recipe!

I have always made most of our food from scratch, but recently, I have become more committed to a clean eating lifestyle. For the past few months I have been baking homemade granola bars for Brian to take with him to work and the baby loves them. The problem is, the daycare the little monkey attends is a nut free zone and these granola bars are made with peanut butter. So I set out to create a nut-free granola bar that the monkey and the rest of the family would enjoy and could take to school/daycare. Well-the little man highly approves of these bars and so does Brian!

While technically these are granola bars, we all think they taste like oatmeal raisin cookies! Enjoy!

Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Bars

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil , melted

2 medium ripe bananas, mashed

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup raw honey

4 cups old fashioned rolled oats

scant 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup raisins

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 325 °F and line a 9 x 13 baking dish with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, mix all wet ingredients together.

3. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined. Do not worry about over mixing.

4. Press mixture into lined pan and bake for 25 minutes.

5. Allow bars to cool completely before cutting (makes 16-24 bars…I usually cut it into 20 which lasts the three of us about a week!)