White Chocolate Pistachio Granola Bars

So I’m going to be honest with you guys…  I’ve never made granola bars before.  Ever.  It seems like something that people make all the time, but I don’t eat them very often so never thought about making my own.  My boyfriend on the other hand… he eats them on a daily basis.  I was chatting with him earlier this week and he had asked me if I could make him some so that he could completely customize them, since he was getting bored of the same flavors he usually purchases from store bought brands.  He asked for something with white chocolate & pistachio, and since I just made pistachio butter recently here, I figured these white chocolate & pistachio granola bars would make the perfect treat for him.  These are super easy to make, require no baking, and are INSANELY delicious.

The first thing we need to get out of the way, is the pistachio butter.  You might be able to find this at a specialty food shop or online, but if not it’s so easy to make yourself!  I recently posted a recipe teaching you how to make your own pistachio butter, and you can click here!  Once you have your pistachio butter made, put it on a double boiler with your maple syrup over a low heat to slightly warm up, making it easier to mix in with the rest of your ingredients.

Making these bars once your pistachio butter is ready or acquired couldn’t be easier.  First you’ll want to toast your oats & pistachios in the oven at 320F for 10-15 minutes (or until fragrant).  Now you certainly don’t have to do this if you don’t want too… but I think it really enhances the flavor of the oats and pistachios.  While those are toasting, you can add your pitted dates to a food processor & process for about one minute until smooth, making sure to scrape down the sides of the food processor frequently to make sure everything is combined.

Add your toasted oats & pistachios, date paste, pistachio butter & maple syrup, sea salt, vanilla extract, & cinnamon into a large mixing bowl, and mix until very well combined. I like to do this with my hands, but just be careful because if you’ve heated your pistachio butter & maple syrup too much, it’ll be hot!  Once everything is well incorporated, you can line a baking tray / dish with parchment paper  (make sure to leave excess paper hanging out of the tray as pictured above, so you can easily just lift your bars right out of the tray), and press your mixture tightly into the tray.  You want to make sure you push the mixture really evenly throughout the tray, getting it into the corners as well, so those pieces don’t crumble apart when you cut the bars.  The size of the bars all depends on your preference as well… use a larger baking tray for thinner granola bars, or a smaller tray for thicker bars.  Place these covered in the fridge for at least an hour before icing.

After at least an hour has passed, you can remove your bars from the fridge.  Lift them out of the tray, and leaving them on the parchment paper, place them onto a cutting board.  Before you cut them, you’ll want to ice them with white chocolate!  I just used store bought vegan white chocolate (I found mine at Whole Foods), and melted it over a double boiler with a small amount (maybe a 1/2 teaspoon per bar of chocolate) of coconut oil.  Once its melted, using a whisk or a fork, drizzle it over your bars generously, or to your liking.  You can at this point additionally top your bars with extra pistachios or any other toppings if you wish, while the chocolate is still warm.  Place back in the fridge uncovered for an additional 30 minutes until the chocolate has hardened.

Once your bars are cooled and set, remove them from the fridge & with a sharp knife, cut them into whatever size bars you’d like!  I cut mine into rectangles, but you could do squares, or any shape really.  I prefer to keep these in the fridge in a glass Tupperware container, so that they stay fresh for a long time & also so the chocolate doesn’t melt.  They should last you anywhere between 1-2 weeks in the fridge!  I really love this recipe too because it’s so versatile… you can swap out any nut butter / nut in the recipe to create different flavors, & switch up the chocolate on top as well!  For example, using peanut butter & peanuts, with dark chocolate drizzle would make a delicious chocolate peanut butter granola bar.  Or macadamia butter & macadamia nuts, with white chocolate drizzle & crushed freeze dried raspberries on top would make a delicious white chocolate macadamia nut granola bar!  The possibilities are truly endless here, but this white chocolate pistachio combination is absolutely to die for.

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White Chocolate Pistachio Granola Bars

Creamy White Chocolate, Slightly Salty Pistachios, & Sweet Dates make the most perfect granola bars, perfect for snacking or breakfast all week long.  

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings 8 people

Author Chef Brianna Gallo

Ingredients

• 2/3 cups medjool dates pitted
• 1 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup pistachio butter
• 3 tbsp agave nectar or maple syrup
• 1 1/4 cups raw unsalted pistachios
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup vegan white chocolate
• 1 tsp virgin coconut oil

Instructions

1. Toast your rolled oats & pistachios in a 320F oven for 10-15 minutes until lightly toasted and fragrant. 

2. Add your pitted dates to a food processor and mix for about one minute until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.  

3. Warm your pistachio butter & agave / maple syrup on the stove over low heat so that it mixes in with the oats and nuts a bit easier.  

4. Place your oats, date paste, pistachios, pistachio butter & agave / maple syrup, sea salt, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large bowl & mix with your hands until everything is well incorporated and mixed through.  Make sure the pistachio butter is cool enough so that you won't burn your hands.  

5. Transfer the mixture to a parchment lined baking tray (the size depends how thick or thin you want the bars.  Use a smaller tray for thicker bars, and a larger tray for thinner bars.  I used a 10x10" tray.), making sure that the parchment paper sticks out a lot on the two ends of the tray, so that you can easily lift the bars out when they're ready.  Press the mixture evenly into the tray, cover, then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  

6. For the white chocolate drizzle on top, add your vegan white chocolate and coconut oil together in a double boiler, and heat until just melted.  Take your granola bars out of the fridge, and without removing them from the tray, drizzle your white chocolate over the bars with a spoon or whisk.  You can add as much or as little as you want, and you can also top with crushed pistachios or any other toppings if you wish as well.  

7. Without covering, place back in the fridge for at least an hour until the chocolate sets, then remove the bars from the tray & slice into however many bars you'd like (this depends on the shape you choose to cut your bars).  Keep refrigerated, and they'll last up to a week.