Granola is a staple in our home. We eat granola bars, granola bites, granola cereal, and love making our own vegan granola as well. When we're not making our own, we absolutely love Made Good products. This recipe contains some of my favorite ingredients: dates, dark chocolate, and protein powder.

People often talk about vegan food being too complicated, tedious, and expensive. One of the most inexpensive and versatile vegan foods are oats. They can be used a variety of ways, and they are nutritious and filling as well. I used gluten-free rolled oats to prepare this recipe. You can toast them before adding them to the recipe or leave them raw. I prefer leaving them raw.

Dark chocolate finds its way into many of my vegan dessert recipes. It's not too sweet, packed with antioxidants, and adds the perfect touch to the granola bars. 

This recipe is a hit with my husband and daughter, and I hope you love it, too! I am happy to make wholesome granola for my family. In the past when I was not as mindful about ingredients and picked just any old granola off the shelves, I was basically basing it off the price of the product versus the health benefits and quality.

Sadly, there are a vast number of granola products on store shelves packed with preservatives, GMO-ingredients, and a long list of other ingredients that help preserve the shelf life by being laden with chemicals. There are quite a few with "wholesome" "all-natural" and "made with whole-grain" on the packaging. These terms do not always ensure a healthy or clean product. That is a definite marketing ploy.

When I started reading labels and ingredients and researching what the chemicals can do to our bodies, I woke up. I am so glad I did! For this reason I love preparing our own snacks and meals so I know exactly what I am using in my recipes. 

Sweet, simple, and only five ingredients.

Author: The Sensible Vegan
Recipe Type: Snack
Cuisine: Vegan
Serving: 14

​Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups pitted dates
• 7 tbsps dark chocolate chunks
• 1 scoop Just Pea protein powder
• 1 cup gluten-free sprouted rolled oats
• 1 packet Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut butter 

Directions:

• Pulse the dates in a food processor until they turns clumpy and dough-like. 
• Add the dates, 5 tablespoons of chocolate chunks, protein powder, and oats to a large bowl, and set aside.
• Melt the nut butter for 30 seconds, and pour it over the ingredients in the bowl.
• Evenly combine the ingredients, breaking apart the clumps of dates and distributing them evenly.
• Press granola evenly into a glass baking dish.
• Melt two tablespoons of chocolate chunks at 30 second increments in microwave.
• With a fork, drizzle the chocolate atop the granola.
• Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Cut into 14 bars (depending on the size of your dish) and serve. You may have to adjust the recipe for number of servings made and nutritional information.
• Store remainder in freezer or airtight container.

Nutrition Info: Serving size 1 bar   Calories: 200   Fat: 4 g    Saturated Fat: 2.5g    Protein: 4g  Sugar: 14g    Fiber: 3.4g   Sodium: 20mg   Carb: 23g

I really enjoy a great granola bar, and I usually keep a few in my purse for those emergency snack situations. As much as I love granola, I have never made my own until now. When looking for a quality granola bar I normally choose the one with the least amount of ingredients.

My daughter and I were looking at various brands, and we were happy that there were several plant based varieties but disappointed at the amount of sugar packed into those little packages. Some of the ones marketed specifically to kids had the highest sugar content per serving! One of  our favorite brands is Made Good. They really know what they are doing, and one of their bars or packages of granola bites are usually in my daughter's lunch bag several days of the week.

This time we decided to make our own chocolate chunk granola, and we had a blast doing it. When you make it yourself you know exactly what goes into it, you control the sugar content, and you can put together your favorite plant based flavors and easily make some delicious granola yourself!

Not all vegan protein powders are created equal. While researching several brands I was appalled at some of the ingredients that were inside. Some people are not particular about ingredients as long as the product is vegan and no animals were abused or killed in the process, but I look at other factors as well. Some of the protein powders contained high amounts of:

• lead
• mercury
• cadmium
• arsenic
• solvents
• chemicals
• GMO

and a host of other not so clean ingredients. I learned that it's not just the ingredients that matter but also how the protein is processed. I have not looked so closely at this in the past. All that concerned me was that it was vegan and tasted good, but those days are gone. I received this pea protein powder from Basik Health Company, but it was before I started doing my research. Was I going to have to discard it? Not at all. After looking at the company's website, I knew that I had a clean, quality, protein powder. The JustPea protein is

• dairy-free
• soy-free
• gluten-free
• GMO-free
• grown, processed and packaged in America
• no stevia, sweeteners, or additives

and many more outstanding qualities. Because the company is committed to creating clean and transparent products without artificial ingredients and proprietary blends, they even post their heavy metal testing results on the website.

I tossed all of the ingredients into my food processor, and the protein powder blended smoothly with the peanut butter and made some tasty granola.

After I pressed the granola into an 8 x 8 inch pan and placed it in the freezer, it was ready to eat within 30 min.

Sweet, chunky, dark chocolatey, snackable, and only five ingredients!

Author: The Sensible Vegan
Recipe Type: Snack
Cuisine: Vegan
Serving: 8

Ingredients

• Two cups packed, pitted dates
• 1/3 cup gluten free sprouted rolled oats
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 tbsps dark chocolate baking chunks
• 1 scoop JustPea pea protein powder​

Instructions

• Add dates to food processor and pulse into small bits. You may need to push some of the mixture down with a spoon to make sure there are no large chunks and everything blends smoothly.
• Add peanut butter, sprouted oats, and protein powder and pulse until well blended.
• Open processor and add in chocolate chunks, but do not blend.
• Scoop out mixture and transfer to lined 8x8 inch dish.
• Press evenly into dish.
• Set for 30 min. in freezer.
• Slice evenly into bars or squares.
  

Nutrition Information
Serving size:  1 bar Calories: 170.5 Fat: 11.5g  Saturated Fat: 2.6g 
Carbohydrates: 13g   Sugar: 3.4g   Sodium: 114.8mg  Fiber: 3g   Protein: 8g

​If you made this recipe, please tag me @thesensiblevegan, #thesensiblevegan!

​Kid-friendly, fun, sweet, chocolatey, and only ten ingredients to make!

Author: The Sensible Vegan
Recipe Type: Snack
Cuisine: Vegan
Serving: 15

Ingredients

• 1 package of non-dairy semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup of raisins
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup of dry roasted peanuts
• 1/2 cup of raw almonds
• 1/2 cup of dried apples
• 1/2 cup of chopped dates
• 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup of walnuts​
• 1tbsp peanut butter

Instructions   

1. In a large bowl with a lid, combine all ingredients. 
2. Place lid atop bowl and shake until all ingredients are evenly mixed.
3. Melt chocolate chips in microwave-safe bowl at 30 sec. intervals until melted. Stir in peanut butter.
   
4. Line baking dish or cookie sheet with parchment paper, and spread chocolate evenly atop paper.
   
5. Sprinkle ¾ cup trail mix evenly atop chocolate.
   
6. Freeze for 2 hours.
   
7. Break the bark into pieces, and enjoy!  Refrigerate remaining portions.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 1 piece Calories: 123  Fat: 7.2g  Saturated Fat: 3.3g 
Carbohydrates: 15.5g   Sugar: 11g   Sodium: 6mg  Fiber: 2g   Protein: 2.3 g

This recipe was so fun to make! It is absolutely a kid-friendly vegan recipe, and my daughter and I had a ball making it! I wanted to make a quick and easy vegan snack that incorporated some of our favorite ingredients, chocolate and peanut butter, and this recipe definitely did the job!

The base of the recipe is pitted dates. This is the perfect consistency after pulsing them in the food processor. Dates are high in vitamins and minerals, they promote digestive health, reduce blood pressure because of the high magnesium content, and studies also show that they boost brain health because of the vitamin B6 content. 

Whenever possible, I encourage my daughter to help with my vegan recipes. She loves cooking, and she really liked this recipe. She was able to mold the mixture and be messy! She is also learning about tastes, textures, different ingredients, and how they work together to make a recipe. She was so proud of the finished product. Those teachable moments are priceless!

​Rich, chocolatey, coco-nutty, hard-to-eat-just-one, peanut buttery and only five ingredients to make!

Author: The Sensible Vegan
Recipe Type: Snack
Cuisine: Vegan
Serving: 17

Ingredients

• 1 cup pitted dates
• 3 tbsps chunky peanut butter
• 3 tbsps unsweetened coconut chips
• 2/3 cup gluten-free rolled oats
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions   

1. Pulse dates in a food processor until they are the above consistency. (Optional: Soak them  in water for 10-15 min. to soften them before pulsing.) 
2. Add peanut butter, oats, coconut, and chocolate to the processor and blend with the dates until the mixture is well blended and finely ground like the above photo. 
3. Form the mixture into balls. You should be able to make 15-17 evenly shaped balls from the recipe.
4. Allow to set in the freezer for 15-20 min.
5. Remove from freezer, and after five minutes at room temperature, enjoy!

Nutrition Information

Serving size: One ball  Calories: 83  Fat:  4g
Sat Fat: 1.9g  Carbohydrates: 18.7g   Sugar: 8.6g    Sodium: 11mg 
Fiber: 2g  Protein: 2g

​Please let me know how you like this recipe. I'd love to hear from you and see your variation of the recipe as well! Post your recipe photos #thesensiblevegan. Thank you!

 Sweet, crunchy, nutty, dark chocolatey, and only nine ingredients to make!

Author: The Sensible Vegan
Recipe Type: Snack
Cuisine: Vegan
Serving: 20

Ingredients

• 1 package of non-dairy semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup of raisins
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup of dry roasted peanuts
• 1/2 cup of raw almonds
• 1/2 cup of dried apples
• 1/2 cup of chopped dates
• 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup of walnuts​

Instructions   

1. In a large bowl with a lid, combine all ingredients. 
2. Place lid atop bowl and shake until all ingredients are evenly mixed.
3. You may choose to leave them in the bowl for a grab-and-go snack, or you may divide the mix into 20 individual portions in Ziplock bags. 

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 1/4 cup Calories: 227  Fat:  13.3g
Sat Fat: 4g  Carbohydrates: 20.2g   Sugar: 14g    Sodium: 2.7mg 
Fiber: 3.4g  Protein: 5g

​Please let me know how you like this recipe. I'd love to hear from you and see your variation as well! Post your recipe photos #thesensiblevegan. Thank you!