GRANOLA BARS
Ingredients:
2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup honey
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped pitted dates*
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots*
1/2 cup dried cranberries*
*These items I substituted with 1/2 cup fruit or chocolate. I think anymore than 1/2 cup will be too much for the amount of granola.
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 8x12-inch baking dish with parchment paper.
Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ.
Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
Place the butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dates, apricots, and cranberries and stir well. Pour the mixture into the prepared 8x12-inch pan. Wet your fingers and lightly press the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.
Here's pics of the latest chocolate chip batch that I made.
Oatmeal, coconut, almond mixture before baking.
Liquid mixture...the honey, brown sugar and vanilla smells so good!
Oatmeal, coconut, almond mixture after browning.
I chopped up 1/2 cup of milk chocolate chips.
The finished yummy product! This makes approx 40-45 1" x 1" sized granola bars.
This last batch came out pretty tasty. It was a tad sweeter because of the chocolate chips on top. However, I think if I use semi-sweet chips next time and mix them into the granola mixture, it would be less sweet. I was afraid that the chocolate chips would melt into the granola, so I chopped them up and sprinkled them on top prior to baking. After the baking, I took the granola out of the oven only to find that the chocolate didn't melt at all. So, the next batch I make, I'm going to just mix in the chocolate chips with the granola.
Enjoy!!!
