How to make them at home using the Dehydrator
Cereal bars are a very popular product and used as an energy snack. There are commercially available ones for all tastes and needs, but unfortunately they are not always healthy. In fact, this type of snack is often added with preservatives, sugars and sometimes even colorants.
Without a doubt the best solution is to produce them at home with quality ingredients and according to your personal tastes. Making them is very easy and takes very little time.
Necessary ingredients
To make homemade granola bars you need the following ingredients:
- Waste fibre from the extractor (we recommend using only fruit fibre) approximately 500g
- Natural cereals (corn flakes, puffed rice, oats, bran, etc.) as a quantity you can consider from 1/5 up to 1/2 compared to the fibers
- Seeds of various kinds (sunflower seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds or even sesame seeds) you can add them according to personal tastes
- 1 or 2 tablespoons of honey, agave syrup or mashed banana (this helps to bind it better and give a sweet note)
- If you like, you can also add some pieces of dried fruit, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, etc.
There is no way to go wrong if you choose foods based on your tastes and the season, the important thing is to always keep in mind that we need to obtain a dense and slightly moist mixture that can remain compact.
Homemade Cereal Bars - How to
- Place all the foods selected to make the bars inside a bowl.
- Also add honey or agave syrup or mashed banana.
- Mix everything well so that the cereals and dried fruit used can get wet thanks to the humidity of the waste fibers and the honey/syrup/banana.
- Press the mixture into a baking tray to form a brick (of a suitable size and shape to fit in the dehydrator. See tips below)
- Start the dryer at 40°C for 12 hours
- Cut the tile into bars or blocks of the desired shape
- Continue drying for at least another 12 hours (the times are indicative, as they vary based on the foods used and the thickness of the bars).
- Store them in airtight or vacuum-packed containers
Suggestions
Note for step #4:
If you have a vertical dryer, you will need to put baking paper on the dryer tray to prevent the mixture from sticking and you will need to make a tile that does not block the central hole. In fact, our advice for those who have this type of dryer is to already create the bars using molds or a donut.
If you have a horizontal dehydrator you can proceed without problems using the non-stick tray or by placing baking paper on the tray.