Wheat Free/Sugar Free/Fructose Friendly Granola Bars

This weekend we went out of town and I was wondering what in the world I was going to snack on since this whole Fructose Malabsorption thing makes easy snacking a bit tricky.  Well, the night before we left, I whipped up these wheat free/sugar free/fructose friendly granola bars.  I ate all of the ones I brought along on our trip and have been snacking on the rest since we got home.  I actually think they're very good and will definitely be making them again.  Paul and Alexa like them too which really says a lot.

I tried to find a recipe on-line but didn't have a lot of time to search so I modified this Healthy 5-Ingredient Granola Bars Recipe I found on the Minimalist Baker's webpage.  I'm sure it's really good the way they have it but I can't have dried fruit and dates are a main ingredient in their recipe.

Here is my version:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (you could use honey if you don't have fructose issues)
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (use any nut you want)
1 1/2 cups toasted oats
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (I can tolerate a small amount of dark chocolate but not everyone with FM can).
1/2 t. vanilla

Directions:
1) I started by toasting the oats because that is what the Minimalist Baker recommended.  I covered a cookie sheet with tin foil and put the oats down in a thin layer.  I toasted them at 350 degrees for 13 minutes (this is when they started to turn golden brown).  I don't think you'd have to do this step but it was easy and I liked the result.
2) Chop up the chocolate chips in smallish pieces and mix them with the toasted oats and chopped walnuts in a large bowl.  (Since the oats were really warm when I did this, the chocolate chips melted.  I actually liked this but may also try cooling the oats first so I can have some chunks of chocolate in the bars.)
3) Warm the maple syrup and peanut butter in the microwave for about 45 seconds on 50% power.   Add the vanilla to this mixture.
4) Pour the maple syrup/peanut butter/vanilla mixture over the oats mixture.
5) Mix until everything is combined.
6) Transfer the mixture to an 8X8 pan that is lined with parchment paper.  Put in the freezer to harden.
7) Remove from the freezer and cut up into the desired size bars.  I then used parchment paper to wrap up the bars so they didn't touch one another.
8) I kept the bars in the freezer and that seems to be working well.

Who says tasty can't also mean good for you?  You should give these a try!