Crunchy Granola Bars (without Honey/Sugar)

To make Healthy,Crunchy Granola bars without refined sugar,honey and peanut butter was in my wishlist for a long time.Most of the Granola bars recipe contains honey.Honey in its raw form has many benefits.According to Ayurveda,Honey becomes toxic when heated.I have used Jaggery to make these bars.The bars turned out flavorful and tasty.Lets see the recipe.

Ingredients:

Oats(Quick cooking)	1 cup
Wheat flour	½ cup
Jaggery(see Note below)	½ cup
Butter melted	3 tablespoon
Coconut oil	1 tblsp
Baking soda	1/4 tsp
Salt	a pinch
Vanilla essence	½ tsp
Nuts and seeds (see notes below)	1/2 cup

Method:

• Preheat oven to 170 ºC.
• Take a mixing bowl and add oats,wheat flour,salt and mix well.Add the chopped nuts and seeds .
• Take a saucepan,add the chopped jaggery and little water(I have used 2 tablespoons water.Don't use more water) just to dissolve the jaggery.Heat on a low flame till it dissolves completely and filter it to remove any impurities.
• Heat a saucepan,add the butter,coconut oil,strained jaggery liquid and heat on a low flame till it simmers.Once it comes to a boil  ,switch of the flame and add the vanilla essence and baking soda. The mixture will foam up once baking soda is added. 
• Add this mixture to the oats and mix well till entire dry ingredients is coated well with the mixture.Mix well using the hands.
• Take a baking pan and line with parchment paper.Add the granola mixture and press well using any flat base. This is important to ensure that the granola bars dont crumble after baking.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 170º C for 20 to 25 mins till the bars turn golden brown on top.
• Keep an eye after 20 mins to avoid burning as each oven may vary.
• Once done take the pan out and after 5 minutes,cut into bars of desired size. Once fully cooled,it would be difficult to cut into bars and it is important to cut while its still warm.

Note:

• I have used chopped almonds,sates,pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.You can add or omit nuts as per your choice.
• I have used the regular jaggery and not powdered one.
• If you don't wish to add coconut oil,you can add butter for that quantity.