Sunday, May 29, 2011

Granola Bars

4 cups rolled oats
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup raw sugar or brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ*
1/2 cup milled flax seed*
1 TBS cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups dried fruit**
1 1/2 cups chopped nuts**
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup olive oil
1 cup honey
1 TBS real vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Grease half sheet pan.

In a large bowl mix all dry ingredients. Make a well in the center pour in eggs, oil, honey, and extract. Mix until until combined. Pat tightly into pan (this is important to avoid super crumbly bars).

Bake 30-35 minutes until edges begin to brown. Cool 5 min. Cut into bars or use cookie cutters for fun shapes.***

Store cooled bars in an airtight container.


Notes:
This recipe is very forgiving. Have fun and experiment.
*Can use 1 cup wheat germ or 1 cup milled flax rather than half & half. If milling your own flax, put 1/4 cup whole flax into your blender or coffee grinder to yield 1/2 cup milled.
**This is the fun part. You can mix up your fruit and nuts as long as you are adding 3 cups total. My favorite combinations are:
~1 cup chopped almonds, 1 cup chopped dried pineapple, 1 cup coconut, +1 1/2 tsp coconut extract, no cinnamon
~1 cup chopped dried cherries, 1 cup chopped almonds, 1 cup chocolate chips (when using chocolate, I like no more than 1 cup, more feels like a candy bar)
***Cut bars while warm or they will be difficult to cut. If you use cookie cutters the leftover bits are delicious with yogurt or milk.



3 comments:

tracy said...

Yum! Thanks for sharing them with me at swim camp!

M said...

Yummo!!!! Thanks for posting this recipe, Can't wait to try it!

Lauri said...

Those look super tasty!