Ingredients: |
Ingredients: 8 oz. (2 cups) old fashioned rolled oats
1 ½ oz. (½ cup) raw sunflower seeds
3 oz. (1 cup) sliced almonds
1 ½ oz. (½ cup) wheat germ
6 oz. (½ cup) honey
1 ¾ oz. (¼ cup packed) dark brown sugar
1 oz. (2 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
2 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. salt
6 ½ oz. (1 ¼ cups) chopped dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, apricots, cherries, blueberries, etc.)
|
Directions: |
Directions:1. Preheat the oven to 350º. Butter a 9x9 or 11x7 inch glass baking dish and set aside.
2. Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, and wheat germ onto a rimmed baking sheet or large cookie tray. Bake until toasted (15 minutes), stirring halfway through.
3. If you're using larger pieces of dried fruit (e.g. apricots or cherries), chop them to bite size while the oat mixture bakes.
4. While the oat mixture continues baking, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the butter has melted and the brown sugar has completely dissolved (5 minutes).
5. Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300º. Immediately add the oat mixture and dried fruit to the liquid mixture, and stir to combine.
6. Turn mixture into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing it. Bake until firm (25 minutes).
7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week. |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: These homemade granola bars are fairly easy and delicious! If you want to avoid chopping, you can stick to raisins (or craisins) instead of bigger dried fruits.
Figuring out when to slice the bars is kind of an art. If you try when they're still warm, they won't hold together. But if you wait too long, they'll dry out and crumble when you slice them. I try to catch that perfect moment when they're cool but still slightly soft. They'll crumble a bit regardless, but you can save the crumbles and eat them like granola.
|
This recipe for Granola Bars is from