You know how sometimes you get involved in things just so you can wear the gear to look the part?
There was this one school field trip to a local ski hill in my early teens that I remember, not because of my epic skiing talent (non-existent) but because approximately 99.9% of that day was spent on my butt. Don’t get me wrong – I knew how to ski. My first exposure to the sport was in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains when I was about 5 and my dad decided to take me on a black diamond hill as my first run of the day. (Mum was less than impressed because it took us a stupid amount of time to get down to the bottom again.)
The slopes on this particular school trip were more like speedbumps in comparison to the Rockies, so on this occasion, I decided to sign up for snowboarding. It wasn’t only because my friends were doing it, but because the gear looks 5289062 times more badass.
The day was to consist of a lesson in the morning and do-whatever-you-want-ing for the afternoon. My lesson started on the bunny hill – or I guess you’d call it the bottom of the bunny hill. The first test was to get to the top on the T-bar lift and this definitely didn’t happen on the first attempt.
When I eventually got up to the top, it was time to undo all of those efforts and come back down – ideally bound to the snowboard in a standing position. Just like getting up the hill, this turned out to be easier said than done. I spent the majority of that lesson on my rear end in a position that resembled tobogganing more than any other winter sport. Come lunch time, I traded in my badass snowboard gear for skis and ski boots, and had a far more enjoyable afternoon on my feet.
Just as snowboards belong to snowboarders, trail mix and trail mix bars belong to hikers and trail runners. I may be a trail runner, but I’d be lying if I told you I’ve been doing any trail running at all in our frigid winter temperatures. And while snowboards aren’t very useful to anyone other than snowboarders, thankfully you don’t have to be a hiker or runner to enjoy these Super Seedy Cashew Cranberry Bars.
You just need to be hungry.
Super Seedy Cranberry Cashew Bars
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Ingredients (18-21 bars)
- 2 cups crispy rice cereal (gluten free if necessary)
- 1 cup instant oats (I used Love Grown Foods Super Oats which are gluten-free)
- 1 cup flaked almonds
- ½ cup pumpkin seeds
- ½ cup hemp seeds
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup cashews
- ¼ cup sesame seeds
- 5 tsp chia seeds
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup raw honey (or swap with maple syrup if vegan)
- ½ cup nut butter of choice
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a very large bowl, combine the first 10 ingredients (crispy rice cereal through cinnamon).
In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the remaining ingredients together, stirring constantly to prevent burning. This should take about 3 minutes and the liquid should be smooth and thick when ready.
Pour the wet ingredients into the large bowl and stir to coat as much of the oat/cereal mixture as possible.
Pour the entire contents of the bowl onto the parchment-lined baking sheet and use a spatula and/or rolling pin to flatten it out into a flat, even layer.
Bake for 13-15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool a bit (but not completely, or they will crumble) before slicing into squares or bars.
Store in the fridge, or freeze leftovers if you won’t be eating all of the bars within the next 10 days.
Click here to print the recipe
[Tweet “Snack on this: Super Seedy Cranberry Cashew Bars #eatclean #eatpurely”]
Now tell me…
- What’s your favourite winter sport (or which one do you wish you were good at?)
- Do you like to make your own granola/snack bars? Any great recipes to share?
This was a great post as I’m packing my bag to take 40 middle schoolers to the hill after school.
Sounds like quite a day! Good luck and have fun!
for a second i thought it say speedy! LOL! and i was like, yes, these will make me speedy like you, right? haha.
Haha! I’ll let you know when I come up with that recipe. 😉
These look so great!! I gotta make these. I am trying to cut out extra sugar, so this would be perfect!
love these cranberry cashew bars!! I love snacks like this that are packed with real, wholesome ingredients you can feel good about. . . and I love Love Grown Foods!!
These are totally up my alley. Portable yummy foods.
I’m not into any winter sports though I want to be. I tried skiing once and didn’t love it. But I should give it another chance. I’m really curious about cross country skiing. That seems like such good exercise!
These are totally my kind of bars! So much goodness!
I can completely confirm that these just aren’t good, but are the BEST.