a few months ago, at the new music bake sale, the good people of dot dot dot music traded me some ridiculously tasty granola agave bites for some of my pb & j mochi and black sesame cupcakes and i think i dreamt about those granola bites that night (in addition to the claire chase vermont counterpoint that went down that day). so i tracked down the recipe from sarah and have since been making some variation on them just about every week since.

i tailored the recipe that i now use to staples that i always have (a massive costco thing of honey, almond butter always, orange flavored cranberries from trader joe's) and then found gluten-free oats at trader joe's so that eggboy could eat them. and he loves them. he actually just came downstairs and stole one out of my mouth, lady and the tramp-style. (is that gross and too much information and way too mushy? ok, maybe. sorry.)

i also have been getting super fast at making them-- and i made up a theory: those nasty artificial sugary processed gross store-bought granola bars probably take a few minutes off of your life (right? probably not, but just go with me), so instead you should take those five minutes back and make your own. because it's much more enjoyable to spend five minutes making things than it is to not have those five minutes at all. molly, that is such a stretch, you're an idiot. is what you may be thinking. and i got nothing in response, it's a slow news day.

but the good news is, these are scrumptious and healthy and easy and gluten free and can be vegan if you substitute the honey for agave syrup.

ready, go!

the healthiest and easiest granola bar bites you ever did take five minutes to make

makes a dozen

ingredients

1 c rolled oats

a pinch of salt

a pinch of ground cinnamon

a splash of vanilla

1/4 c almond butter

1 tb honey (substitute this for agave syrup to make these vegan)

1/4 c dried berries

clues

with a fork, stir together oats, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla in a medium bowl. stir in almond butter, honey, and dried berries. once the mixture is mixed well, use your hands to roll into one-inch balls. if the mixture is too dry to roll into balls, add a bit more honey or almond butter. enjoy!

-yeh!