Harvey Bars

As what seemed like unending rain from Hurricane Harvey relentlessly poured down on Houston, my husband and I were fortunate enough to have no flooding or power outages. Thousands of Houstonians were not as lucky and lost houses, cars, belongings, and are now staying in temporary shelters. Many awesome organizations and selfless people have pulled through in a huge way for Houston. Many people traveled from different states with their boats in tow to rescue families trapped by floodwaters. The generosity and selflessness strangers have shown towards one another in the last few days was a reminder to me of how good people are. I named this recipe Harvey Bars as to me they will always be a reminder of a bad disaster that brought out so much good in people.

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars

 

On a lighter note, I had lots of time to experiment with recipes while we were stuck inside. Prior to the storm hitting my husband went to the grocery store to get some food that we could eat without cooking if the power went out. We were a little late to the game so just about everything was picked over. With slim pickins, he returned with 6 boxes of granola bars, oranges, and shelf stable almond milk… I crossed my fingers we wouldn’t lose power. Although, the granola bars he bought did spark an idea — I should have just made granola bars! So that’s what I did. Three trial runs later we now have 6 boxes + 3 homemade batches of granola bars + 1 kick butt recipe!

It’s no coincidence that these bars taste a lot like no bake cookies. My readily available husband (who’s favorite dessert is no bake cookies) was my official taste tester. His constant input slowly evolved these bars to taste very similar to his favorite dessert. I’m not complaining… you really can’t go wrong with the chocolate-PB combo.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Harvey Bars

A chocolate and peanut butter whole food, plant-based, whole grain granola bar.
5 from 2 votes
Print Pin
Course: Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian
Keyword: chocolate, Granola Bar, Peanut Butter
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 15 bars

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup pitted dates packed
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 3/4 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup chia seeds
  • 1/4 cup coconut unsweetened
  • 1/4 cup walnuts chopped
  • 1/4 cup almonds shaved
  • 1/4 cup cacao powder or cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter, smooth no sugar added
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

  • Place water and dates in food processor and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides as needed.
  • Preheat oven to 325ºF.
  • Combine pureed dates along with the rest of all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. 
  • Spread mixture evenly out in a parchment paper lined 9x13" pan. 
  • Bake for 30 minutes.
  • Remove from oven and let sit in pan for 5 minutes.
    Lift parchment paper out of pan and sit on cooling rack. Let cool for 5 more minutes before cutting into bars. 

Notes

Store in an airtight container.
Freeze if you are keeping them longer than 1 week.
Did you make this recipe?Tag @whollyplantsblog on Instagram and hashtag it #whollyplants


3 thoughts on “Harvey Bars”

  • Hi Ladies,
    When you say “1/4 cup cacao” , do you mean cacao powder or something else. I’m not too familiar with cacao. Thanks!! Really appreciate your website and the plant-based recipes.

    • Yes, 1/4 cup of cacao powder! Cocoa powder will also do the trick. Thanks for clarifying so we can update the post and avoid future confusion!
      And thank you for giving our recipes a go! 🙂 We hope you enjoy them!

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