Granola Bites

My friend Tina passed on this recipe to me. She was looking for a healthy snack for her daughter, who's dairy intolerant. She ended up making quite a few changes to the original recipe. Tina reduced the amount of sugar and oil used and added applesauce. If your little one needs more calories, follow the original more closely.

Be forewarned, these aren't meant to be cookies, therefore, they aren't super-duper sweet -- which is perfect for little ones.

Granola Bites

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil or other vegetable oil
1/2 cup (heaping) apple sauce
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups regular oats
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350. Spray nonstick cooking spray into each muffin cup.

Mix brown sugar, oil and eggs in a large bowl until smooth. Combine the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. Stir flour/baking powder mix and remaining ingredients into the sugar/oil mixture.

Drop a heaping tablespoon of batter into each muffin cup. Spread batter with spoon or fingers to evenly cover the bottom of the muffin cup.

Bake until edges are brown, about 12 minutes. Let sit a few minutes in the muffin pan then remove for complete cooling.

Makes approximately 48 granola circles.

Quick Start with MSPI Mama: This is one of my Quick Start recipes.