This range of delicious homemade granola bars could very well be a substitute for dessert

Even as we see store racks piled with healthy options in snacks, like whole grain cookies and sugar free cakes, there is a clear clarion call for fresh, unprocessed and natural foods. Home kitchens have responded with a robust range that dips into healthy recipes for the modern day nutritional requirements. Just like how city-based Shweta Sampat decided to whip up some high energy granola bars for her teenage son who needed some nutritional snack between his gruelling football training. “It was my daughter Tanvi’s idea and recipes,” avers Shweta, talking about her two-month-old venture NRG Pro Bar, which can be found on Instagram.

We find that Tanvi is fresh out of culinary school and all of 20. What kind of research did she do to finalise the recipes? She admits that her culinary school degree, that she recently completed in Hyderabad, did come in handy when she started the process. “Factors like roasting the nuts at a particular temperature to ensure longer shelf life and the combination of ingredients that work together, are things that were part of my course,” says the youngster, adding that all she wanted to do was create a healthy and wholesome snack for her brother and father who were into fitness. “Turning it into a business was my mum’s idea. Which is no surprise as she has always been into health foods and clean eating,” says Tanvi who has come up with five different flavours of granola bars and assures us that they have a shelf life of up to three months and are completely free of preservatives.

Shweta, who recently participated in a pop-up in the city and tells us that, “I just wanted more people to benefit from this – it is healthy, nutritious and tasty! The Berrylicious was the most fast moving product at our counter.” A bite of the chewy and mildly sticky square of granola explains its popularity. Topped with dry blueberries, strawberries and cranberries the tanginess delightfully cuts through the sweetness of the dates and honey that binds the oats. Meanwhile their Dark Chocolate bar is fudgy and has pistachio and pumpkin seeds for some crunch – and tasty enough for us to toy with the idea of crumbling it and using it as a dessert topping! Their Café Mocha bar has filter coffee and a drizzle of white chocolate, another dessert-like bite. The Classic Dry Fruits bar has hints of peanut butter, honey and dates, along with almonds and cashews.  Shweta shares that all ingredients are locally sourced.