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I don’t think you can ever have too many snack ideas in your arsenal to fight against those getting hangry. After making that last post about lunch box ideas I got a lot of great feedback that you guys loved these kind of ideas. I find it really helpful even for myself to sometimes embrace simplistic ways of cooking. Or in this case, not cooking.

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Anyway, did you have a favorite snack bar as a kid? When I think about this a lot of things come to mind, especially chocolate things. Well, while I totally love me a good chocolate chip granola bar, I also occasionally crave something a little more tart and refreshing like lemon.

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Especially with it being near the end of Summer now, I’ve been really trying to embrace the last of the flavors. You know, because after that it’ll be full fledged # -> pumkinspiceeverything. ;p

So these bars are so so easy to make and they make the perfect snack for adding to a lunchbox, grabbing as a snack, or even crumbing over some fruit for breakfast. I think my favorite part about them is that they’re really soft and chewy. I don’t know about you, but I was never into the extra crunchy granola bars when I was a kid. I think I have a much better appreciation for them now that I’m older, but I’ll still go for the soft ones if given the choice.

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And I wasn’t actually joking that much about the approach of Fall and my excitement to start making recipes for it. I’m even anxious to take this recipe and switch around with some festive spices, yum!

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Alright, so let me know what you think of these if you get the chance to try them. You can also take this recipe and roll it into granola balls/bites!

Cranberry Lemon No-Bake Granola Bars

Prep Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 5 bars

A quick and simple snack that's great for grabbing on the go or putting in lunchboxes.

Ingredients

1 2/3 cup oats
2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut shreds
6 large medjool dates, pitted and soaked
2 tablespoons almond butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon flax seeds
3 tablespoons dried cranberries

Instructions

Combine the dates, almond butter, maple, vanilla, cinnamon, and lemon zest in a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth. Scrape into a medium mixing bowl and add the craisins, flax seeds coconut, and oats then stir until evenly combined.
Line a 5x9 inch loaf pan with wax paper or parchment and press the mixture into the bottom in a flat layer. Chill in refrigerator for about an hour to give them time to set. Remove from pan and cut into 5 bars and enjoy.

ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL! All of these food photos were taken with my Nikon D750 and my favorite Lens, the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G. You can find out more in my INTRO POST.

And, by the way, to all the minnows out there, my intro post did a huge $0.21. The key to success on Steemit is to be consistent and persistent. Click on the link below for some great tutorials on how you can also succeed on the steem blockchain: