Homemade KIND Bars

Holistic Kindness

KIND bars are one of my favorite snacks. They are all natural whole nut and fruit bars made with ingredients you can see and pronounce. If you check out their website they claim they are founded on the principle of holistic kindness. I liked the sound of this, so I researched a little more and found their mission statement:

Holistic Kindness:

  For us “being KIND,” means to “Be KIND to your body, your taste buds, and the world.”®  KIND to Your Body and to your taste buds is manifested through the use of all natural wholesome ingredients you can see and pronounce® like whole nuts and real fruit.  The KIND social mission is embodied in the KIND Movement, which inspires unexpected KINDINGS – ie, unexpected acts of kindness.  Here too, the act of KINDING someone else makes both the recipient of the kindness, and the person doing the KINDING, just a little happier.

I have a new word in my vocabulary KINDING. I truly believe being kind to others makes us happier! Here is my recipe for homemade KIND bars:

Clean Eating Nutty Coconut Granola Bars

(Makes 12 bars)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup walnut pieces
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cups dried cranberries, fruit juice sweetened
• 1 cup traditional oats (I used gluten free oats)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup dried coconut
• 1 cup organic brown rice syrup
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the walnuts, peanuts, cranberries, oats, coconut and cinnamon. Stir well to combine.
2. In a small to medium sauce pan, combine the brown rice syrup, honey and vanilla extract. Bring to a boil while stirring occasionally.
3. While the sweetener is still hot, pour it into the mixing bowl and stir everything together.
4. Working quickly, transfer the mixture into an oiled baking dish (Mine was 9 x 13).
5. Using a piece of parchment paper that is large enough to cover the entire surface area, press down the mixture down using your flat hand(s) to compress it tightly. If you don’t pack it down tight enough, these will not stick together when you cut them.
6. Place the baking dish in the freezer overnight and cut into bars in the morning.

Storage: Once these have been cut, it’s best to wrap them individually in parchment or plastic wrap and store in the freezer. If they warm to room temperature, they start to fall apart.