Keto (friendly) Granola Bars

Recently, I tried some expensive keto granola bars from Costco, and they were delicious. But at a buck 25 per bar, I felt a bit guilty. I looked at the ingredient list, and realizing I had all the ingredients in my pantry, I sought to recreate them. I looked at a few on line recipes (which were not very helpful) to get my bearings and came up with this recipe. I cooked them in small batches, playing with the fat and sweetener, but now that I found something as good as the store bought, I will double this recipe in the future.

1 1/4 cups of nuts (I used a combination of almond, pecans and walnuts, but use what you have on hand)

1/4 cup EACH:
sunflower seeds
flax seeds (I used whole, but I imagine ground would be OK too)
pumpkin seeds (pepitos) or pistachios

1/2 cup shredded coconut (I use unsweetened, but use sweetened if that's what you have)

2T hemp hearts (soaked chia seeds would work too)

1/2 cup coconut oil (generous)
1/4 to 1/3 cup maple syrup (depending on how sweet you want it.

1t vanilla
2t cinnamon
pinch of salt
a tiny pinch of stevia

Process in the food processor until ground up and it is sticking together.

Press into an 8" square pan that has been buttered on the bottom. Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes.

Let cool completely before eating, if you can resist.They get better if they sit out overnight.
For a crunchier texture, back off on the fat and sugar and up the temp a few degrees and cook a few minutes longer. This will be more like granola and you can crumble it up over yogurt or eat like cereal. This is definitely a flexible recipe, and I'm already thinking of using peanut butter for some of  the fat and adding some chocolate chips...