No Bake Granola Bars with White Chocolate and Lemon CBD

This post is sponsored by Barleans but all opinions are 100% my own.

With all the craziness surrounding COVID-19 and being stuck in the house I've been doing a lot of baking and cooking.  I'm not going to lie, I've also been stressing a lot.  It's hard being stuck in the house knowing that you can't really go anywhere.  Try telling that to a two and a half year old who doesn't understand.

I think a lot of people are having stress and anxiety about what is happening right now and it's hard to manage it.  Did you know that CBD oil is a popular natural remedy for a variety of medical problems including depression and anxiety?  I've tried it before for pain management but decided to make something for my husband and I in hopes of reducing our anxiety over the current situation.

I've used Barlean's Seriously Delicious CBD Hemp Oil in my baking before so I knew that was what I wanted to use.   I used the Lemon Drop flavor because it really brightens up any recipe it's in.  We've been bored with our breakfast so I thought granola bars with the Lemon Drop CBD oil in them would be really tasty.

Since CBD oil can't be heated above 225 degrees I wanted a no bake version of a granola bar.  There are plenty of them out there that use honey and peanut butter to hold the bars together but my problem is I don't like peanut butter.  Instead I made my own pecan butter with cinnamon to help me make my own granola bars.

While making my own pecan butter was an easy way to get a substitute for the peanut butter you can use your favorite nut butter in this recipe.  Simply grab oats, slivered almonds, and some type of seeds.  I often use flax seeds but I happen to have a bag of Barlean's Superfruit Seed Blend which includes flax, coconut, blueberry, and strawberry.

I boiled the brown sugar and honey together to make a sticky mixture and then mixed in the pecan butter.   Next I stirred in everything but the white chocolate and poured it into a pan.   Once I had it firmly pressed into the pan I sprinkled the white chocolate chips on top and pressed them in.

You can simply wait until the granola bars cool to cut them but I find that they fall apart fairly easily.  I like to keep mine in the refrigerator and cut them apart as needed.   This keeps them firm and easy to eat.

The flavor of these granola bars is really good.   I could taste the pecan butter and the bright lemon flavor.  The white chocolate chips were sweet and creamy on top.  These are the perfect breakfast to enjoy while trying to de-stress first thing in the morning.  I can't wait to make another batch!

Pro Tips & Substitutions:

• Use your favorite nut butter in this recipe.  If you don't have any simply combine 1 cup of toasted nuts with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of oil and blend until creamy to make your own!
• I like to refrigerate these bars because it makes them easier to handle.  In the refrigerator these will last up to 2 weeks.
• Feel free to add dried fruit or other flavors of chips to this recipe to customize it to your own tastes.