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Tiki Bars! Nutty Tropical Fruit Granola Bars (Vegan + GF)

Tired of plain old granola bars? Spice things up with these flavor explosions. They're perfect for making snack time more interesting!

Ingredients

  • 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 cup puffed brown rice unsweetened
  • 1/3 cup dried coconut shreds unsweetened
  • 2/3 cup dried tropical fruit pieces mine was a combination of pineapple, raisins, and papaya
  • 2/3 cup young dried coconut or more tropical fruit
  • pistacios roughly chopped
  • cashews roughly chopped
  • 1 medium banana mashed
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon orange zest
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup agave or maple
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil melted
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon cloves
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet dark chocolate make sure it's vegan if necessary
  • 1 teaspoon coconut oil

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F (160 C) and line a 13x9 inch rectangular pan with wax paper or greased parchment. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. In a separate medium bowl, stir together the wet ingredients and spices and pour over dry mixture. Mix well until everything is well coated, then use a rubber spatula to scrape the mixture into prepared pan.
  2. Press the mixture down tightly and evenly using greased palms or a flat object until it's as tight as possible. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 18 - 22 minutes or until the bars are just starting to brown on the edges. Turn off the oven but leave the pan inside and allow the bars to cool down with the oven for about 1 hour. After they have mostly cooled, remove pan from oven and lift slab out of pan using the paper and allow it to finish cooling completely.
  3. Once hardened, cut into desired size bars. If using chocolate, melt it in a double boiler or microwave safe bowl with the oil and drizzle over cooled bars then allow it to harden before serving.