Coconut Mango Cereal & Granola

Coconut Mango Cereal

What it is about cereal that makes it the go-to food of choice at any time of day by children, college students, and single men? My kids love cereal. They also love granola bars, they are a necessity in our home. What if you could create BOTH of them with the same recipe!? What if you could also create a recipe without using dairy or sugar and was also gluten-free? I did a little happy dance right in my kitchen when I discovered this recipe here.

After adapting it to meet the dietary needs of my very high-maintenance children (more on that later) we ate ourselves sick on granola bars for days! Although after boiling a fresh batch for too long I ended up with a dry mix that wouldn’t press into the pan no matter how much force I used with my spoon. Deflated, I poured it into a gallon size Ziploc bag and hid my failure in the cupboard. Luckily my daughter found it and happily munched on the granola I accidentally made!

Coconut Mango Granola Bars

Non-Dairy, Gluten Free, Makes 28 bars

Just the bare necessities with Mother Nature’s recipes for a protein rich afternoon snack or tasty breakfast your kids will love.

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup honey
½ cup coconut sugar* (or 1/3 c. packed brown sugar)
¼ cup sunbutter (or peanut butter or almond butter)
¼ cup coconut butter (or regular butter)
3 tsp vanilla
4 cups GF Quick oats** (not rolled or instant oats)
2 cups crispy rice cereal
¼ cup dried or freeze dried mango
¼ cup shredded unsweetened coconut

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl stir together quick oats and crispy rice cereal.
In a medium saucepan, combine honey, sugar, peanut butter, and coconut butter and bring to a boil over medium heat. Bring temperature down to low and simmer til sugar dissolves***.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
Pour hot mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir until cereal is evenly coated.
Add in mango and coconut and mix thoroughly. Press firmly with the back of a buttered spoon into a parchment lined 13×9 pan. Let cool completely before cutting or they will fall apart.

Notes:

* Coconut sugar is easily metabolized and a low-glycemic sweetener

** Quick oats are pressed thinner than rolled oats, instant oats have been cooked and dehydrated with most of the nutrients compromised and in some cases the addition of additives. Oats are inherently gluten-free but are often cross-contaminated in processing. Check labels to make sure they are gluten-free if you need it.

*** Coconut sugar may not completely dissolve– do not over heat if you want granola bars

Coconut Mango Granola

For a tasty granola version, follow directions for granola bars but boil for 5 minutes before turning the heat down to simmer. The honey will start to caramelize and create a drier mix that is perfect for snacking or in a bowl with milk for your morning cereal.

Recap

We have since made it successfully both ways and enjoyed it every time. You can omit the fruit for the bare necessities, add nuts or sunflower seeds for some crunch, or use dark chocolate chips for a sweeter snack. But we prefer the mango and coconut to munch while we snuggle up, open our new Jungle Book Blu-Ray, and watch it in high-def. That’s a bare necessity for sure!

What’s your favorite jungle snack to enjoy with your favorite monkeys?