On Sunday my sister, grandparents, uncle, and cousins came over to my house. We all had dinner in the backyard. My sister showed us pictures from her trip to Guatemala and Belize. We also played croquet in the backyard. It was a lot of fun. I can’t wait to do that again just like I can’t wait to share this recipe with you.
On February 8 of this year I wanted to make something that was quick to grab for a snack. I created granola bars. You can personalize them however you want by switching all of the added ingredients. For granola or granola bars all you will need are three things: a base of oats, extras, and binders. This time I added Craisins, walnuts, chocolate chips, and puff rice cereal.
There are so many different extra things you can add:
- Almonds
- pecans
- shredded coconut
- golden raisins
- peanut butter chips
- toffee bits
- mini M&M’s
- peanuts
This is just the beginning of the list. You can always add seeds, nuts, and dried fruit of any kind. Even the binder can be switched up such as honey, nut butter, maple syrup, agave nectar, or coconut oil. For this recipe I just used honey.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups rolled oats not quick cook oats
- 1/3 cup Honey
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup dried fruit of your choice
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
- Optional – 1/4 cup nuts such as walnuts almonds or pecans
Instructions
-
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
-
Spread oats (and nuts if using) onto a large cookie sheet and place in the oven for eight minutes to lightly toast. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire cooling rack for at least 15 minutes. Turn off oven, no further baking is required.
-
In a heavy pan combine honey, butter, brown sugar, vanilla and salt. Stir over medium heat until butter melts, sugar dissolves and mixture comes together. Remove from heat and allow to cool at least ten minutes.
-
Once oats and liquid mixture have cooled slightly, place both in a bowl and stir well to combine. Once combined stir in dried fruit, chocolate chips and nuts.
-
Press mixture into an 8×8 or 9×9 pan that has been lined with foil or parchment paper and sprayed lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Once mixture is in pan, press mixture down firmly. Using a piece of parchment paper between your hands and the mixture will help keep it from sticking. It’s important to makes sure you do this step, otherwise your granola bars will not stay together very well.
-
Place pan in fridge and chill for at least four hours. Remove from fridge, remove bars from pan and parchment paper/foil, and cut into 12 pieces. Bars can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature for up to a week.
Evan's Eats and More 