Cre8 Copy-Cat Fiber One Bars (Peanut-Free)

My family loves the Oats and Chocolate Chip Fiber One bars. We all love the taste and convenience. I love all the fiber and nutrients in the bars. There are a few things I don't like about the bars:

• Peanuts as an ingredient means the kids cannot take them to school in the lunch box (peanut-free school).
• The individual packaging generates a lot of non-recyclable plastic waste.
• Even buying them in bulk, they are pretty pricey ~$1/piece

So, I decided to try to make a copycat version of these bars leaving out the ingredients I don't want (Peanuts, Hydrogenated Coconut Oil, High Fructose Corn Syrup, among others) and also add in some ingredients that I do want (flax meal, oat bran, etc.)

I would really like to add chicory root extract for all the soluble fiber, but I have not been able to find that commercially available. Would love a source if you have one!

This is a huge recipe - makes 30-40 bars and they last well. There are a lot of ingredients here and there is a good amount of room for improvisation. I don't think I actually make them the same way twice...

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. butter, melted
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar (melted to a syrup)
  
• ½ cup honey
• ¼ cup Agave Nectar
• ¼ cup molasses
• ½ cup sunflower butter (mine is sunflowers, tahini, and canola oil)
  
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. liquid lecithin
• 1 ½ cup barley flakes
• 2 ½ cups rolled oats
• 2 cup crisped rice
• ¼ cup toasted wheat germ
• ¼ cup oat bran
• ¼ cup white whole wheat flour
• ¼ cup lightly blended almonds
• ¼ cup flax meal
• ¼ cup dry coconut flakes
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix combine all the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together the melted butter with the soy lecithin (you could substitute egg yolk for this - it is the emulsifier) then add all the wet ingredients (including the sunflower butter) and whisk until well combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with a wooden spoon until until all the dry ingredients are incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and stir until they are evenly distributed. Next, spread the batter into two greased 9x11 baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes (or until the edges are lightly browned).

Now, here's the hard part... Cover lightly and leave for 24 hours before cutting. This is a really essential step to keep the bars from falling apart. You may even place in the refrigerator for a few hours before cutting. Cut into bars (I use a pizza cutter, which works great). You can store in a glass container(s) or leave them right in the pan. These are great snacks for the lunch box, after school snacks, a lunch supplement.

Without the chicory root extract, these bars do not have the fiber content that Fiber One Bars do, but they stall have a lot! As well as a bunch of other good nutrients.