An artist and talented cook, Angie Nordstrum exercises her creativity in and out of the kitchen. In her monthly column, she shares delicious recipes free of the top eight allergens responsible for 90% of all food-related allergic reactions: dairy, egg, wheat, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish.

Today, Angie bakes up a portable, energy-boosting snack.

Illustration by Angie Nordstrum

- Angie

For anyone avoiding wheat, nuts, and seeds, trying to find a food allergy-friendly granola bar is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I have found that most prepackaged granola products contain at least one of the top eight allergens. I prefer to just make my own bars, which are soft and chewy, food allergy-friendly, and very economical!

I use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Quick Cooking Oats for the granola base. These oats are grown on fields dedicated to growing oats and are tested with an R5 ELISA gluten test to ensure they are free of gluten. Oats themselves are naturally gluten free, but they are commonly processed in facilities with products containing gluten. The quick cooking oats absorb the liquid in the batter well and bake into a pleasantly chewy bar, though regular oats will work just fine, too. 

You may use any alternative milk (rice milk, hemp milk, soy milk), but in baked goods it’s advantageous to have a richer, thicker product. We love So Delicious Original Coconut Milk and use that in nearly all of our baking endeavors. Ener-G Egg Replacer is an excellent egg substitute, and it also works wonders as the binder in these granola bars. A bonus: Ener-G Egg Replacer is manufactured in a facility free of the top eight allergens.

These granola bars are delicious warm right out of the oven, topped with vanilla yogurt and berries. My son loves the bars for breakfast, as a snack in his lunch, and for dessert.

Baked Granola Bars

Makes one 9 x 13 pan

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups gluten free quick cooking oats (I use Bob's Red Mill)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:

3 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer
4 tablespoons warm water
1 1/2 cup coconut milk (I use So Delicious Original)
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tablespoon coconut butter, melted (I use Earth Balance Organic Coconut Butter Spread)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 apple, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup raisins

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Like this post? See Angie's previous topic: "Just Beet It" Valentine Cupcakes.

Angie is an associate graphic artist at WFM Pearl Street in Boulder. As a mother to a son with life-threatening food allergies, Angie is also a dedicated food allergy advocate.