Using your favorite nut butter, liquid sweetener and mix-ins you can create your ideal granola bar with these 5 Ingredient Adaptable Granola Bars!
When this post goes live, I'll be on a plane to Thailand!
Well, I'll actually be on a plane to another city in China, BUT the flight after that will be taking me to Thailand. Yeah, I'm pretty stoked.
Thailand has been on the top of my travel list for a couple of years now. Warm weather. ALL the Fruit. Thai food. Beaches. Friendly people. Count me in! What's even more exciting is that Brett and I won't just be going to Thailand, but are also planning to visit Vietnam and Cambodia. We'll start out in Thailand for two weeks for a couple of conferences and then the next two weeks are up in the air, but we hope to hop over to other near-by countries. One of the reasons we'll be traveling for so long is because Chinese New Year is in early February and no one will be working or going to school during that week, including our language teacher and us!
Brett and I are also realizing (haha!) that we've almost been married three years and we aren't getting any younger. While we're still not quite ready to have kids, we know we eventually want to expand our family. When that happens (if that happens), traveling will be a lot harder to do, so we want to take advantage of this season. Plus, it's so cheap and easy to travel throughout Southeast Asia, we couldn't help to tack on a few more countries after our conferences in Thailand are over. We actually don't even have any set plans for the second half of our trip, but just plan to make plans as we go. Unlike our trip to India and Nepal, however, I WILL be taking my DSLR, so expect to see lots of pictures when I get back!
Have any of you ever been to Thailand, Cambodia or Vietnam?! I'd love to hear about your experiences! What cities did you go to? What was the best food you ate? What do you recommend? Let me know!
Another thing you can bet on when you read this post is that I'll have a tupperware full of these 5 Ingredient Adaptable Granola Bars in my backpack. I can't tell you how many times I've made these bars or the number of combinations I've created. They're so easy to make and adapt and they travel wonderfully. Every time I go on a trip, I make a batch of these to take with us. They come in so handy on the plane or when hungry hits but don't have access to plant-based or healthy food. They also last forever out of the fridge (at least that's my experience!) I'm usually still eating these two weeks into traveling and they still taste great. Sometimes I'll even make this similar Vegan Protein Granola Bar recipe for some added umph!
Basically, these 5 Ingredient Adaptable Granola Bars are PERFECT!
Like I mention in the recipe notes, two of my favorite combinations are cashew butter with dried apricots and peanut butter with cacao nibs. Whatever mix-ins you choose, just make sure you chop them fairly fine so that your bars can hold together well.
Let me know if you try out these 5 Ingredient Adaptable Granola Bars and what nut butter, sweetener, and mix-ins you use! Leave a comment or tag #theconscientiouseater on Instagram so I can see your creation!
📖 Recipe
5 Ingredient Adaptable Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups quick oats
- ½ cup ground flaxseed
- Scant ½ cup mix-ins see notes!
- ½ cup nut butter
- ½ cup liquid sweetener agave, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, or honey, if not vegan
Instructions
- In a large bowl mix the oats, flaxseed and mix-ins until combined.
- Add in the nut butter and liquid sweetener and stir well until a sticky, uniform dough forms. Feel free to use your hands!
- With damp hands, pour the dough onto a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and flatten it into a square about ¾ inch thick. (You can also use an 8x8 pan.)
- Place the flattened dough into the refrigerator for about ½ hour. Remove and cut into squares or rectangles.
- Store in the fridge.
Notes
Two of my favorite combinations are cashew butter with dried apricots and peanut butter with cacao nibs.
Gal Jerman says
Top site ,.. amazaing post ! Just keep the work on !
Diane says
Mmmmm. Made your suggested peanut butter and cacao nib version - did not expect it to be so good ?.
Faith says
Yay! That's music to my ears Diane!
Cleopatra Paparas says
I tried this recipe and I have never, EVER tasted as good of granola bars as this! It's my sister's go to breakfast, and she begs me to make it again whenever we run out. Winning combo for us is peanut butter, maple syrup, and raisins. 10/10 Recommend to try it for everyone!
Faith says
YAY! We make these every week and I'm always switching up the add-ins. So so happy you enjoyed them!
Cara says
Made these with peanut butter, maple syrup, assorted nuts and chia seeds because we ran out of flax seeds. Utterly delicious
Faith VanderMolen says
So glad you liked the Cara! I love the ingredients you choose...yum!
Cora says
Oh I love this! I love recipes that have so much flexibility (although even when they don't I still end up taking my own liberties). Cashew butter and apricot!? Never tried, but sounds divine!
I have been to Thailand, Cambodia AND Vietnam. My favorite area of the three, by far, was the northern part of Thailand. Chiang Mai definitely, and then I did some volunteering/trekking outside the Chiang Rai area. Oh gosh. Im getting so nostalgic just thinking of it. SO beautiful. And so much less touristy than the Bangkok hub. Cambodia is wonderful for the people. I liked Vietnam for the craftmanship and shopping, but did not feel as safe there (glad you will not be alone). ENJOY!!!
Faith says
Thanks Cora! If you make up some combination, let me know what it is!
And that's awesome you've already been to all three countries!! You're quite the traveler yourself! So far I'm loving Chiang Mai, but we sadly won't be able to do much exploring this year due to work conferences. But, that's awesome to hear what you enjoyed and what we should look into. I'm glad I'm not traveling alone either...especially since my husband does most of the planning. Score!!
Victoria says
Hope you have a great time. I travelled in the north of Thailand and Cambodia last summer. Angkor Wat is just amazing, and three days are more than enough to see all the ruins. After that, we went to Koh Rong, a paradisiac island where you can see luminescent plankton and relax and hike. We didn't plan to go there and it ended up being our favourite part of the trip. We then went to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. We loved Chiang Mai (amazing(!!!!!) vegan food and so many temples) but didn't like Chiang Rai. We didn't like Bangkok very much either. So, summarising, I would recommend Angkor Wat, Koh Rong and Chiang Mai! Have fun! 🙂
Faith says
Victoria, wow!! Thanks for all the recommendations! We're in Chiang Mai right now and just ate some amazing Indian food. Tomorrow we're planning to eat more too:) AND...it looks like we're going to all the places you recommended so that's awesome to hear you loved them too. I'll be sure to share about our time once we're back! Thanks again!
oscar says
An interesting restaurant to try in Sai Gon, Viet Nam, is "Blackout." It's a bit expensive, but you pay for the experience. You eat your food in the dark and guess later what it was that you were served. It was fun when I went. Very good reviews.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293925-d7020418-Reviews-Blackout-Ho_Chi_Minh_City.html
Faith says
And this restaurant sounds so fun!! I just watched a movie with the same kind of restaurant and immediately wanted to try it sometime. I hope they didn't serve you anything to weird!
oscar says
Hey now - I just booked my ticket for Thailand last night. I'll be there and in Viet Nam next month. I've been to Cambodia a number of times, so I won't go this time.
Two places to see in Cambodia are Angkor Wat, and the Blue Pumpkin. These are both in Siem Reap. I remember the latter when they were literally a hole in the ground. They have awesome smoothies, among other things. And they aren't very expensive. The Red Piano has been there for a long time as well.
I actually love Cambodia more than Viet Nam at times. Although the Cambodians have a strong dislike for them.
If you can get to Sa Pa or Ha Long Bay - near Ha Noi - those are really nice places to go. Everything is cheap in these countries - guesthouses $10/night, food $2/3 for an entire meal, transportation, etc.
Faith says
Wow seriously! I'll tell ya, the longer I live overseas the smaller the world seems. We seem to run into people in the most random places! What's bringing you to Thailand?! I hope vacation!
Thanks so much for all the recommendation...that's super helpful. We're definitely going to Angkor Wat in Siem Reap and my husband says he's fingering out the rest of our trip. It's looking like we won't make it to Northern Vietnam this trip, but we definitely want to go another time!
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table says
Have fun!!! My sister went to Thailand and loved it. She said to try the little coconut and banana mini-pancakes they make on the street. I can't wait to go one day too!
Faith says
Oh wowza, those pancakes sound awesome! Hopefully I can find some! I hope you and Vegas can go one day soon!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
Thailand is beautiful!!! On my bucket list for sure!
Faith says
I'll post some pictures after! I hope you can go one day Rebecca!