Homemade Granola Bars

I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for awhile. I really like the idea of making my own granola bars. I’ve been on a muesli kick for awhile now, and decided it was time to make some granola. I usually keep granola bars in my purse when I have to go to the hospital for doctor appointments and tests, since I’m usually sitting around forever, waiting. I’m in love with the white chocolate macadamia Luna bars. These homemade bars are a much healthier option. I suppose I could have added some melted chocolate to these, but they are so good on their own. They remind me of the Two Moms in the Raw bars they sell at Starbucks and Nordstrom’s snack bar, I love the gojiberry one. Have you ever had one of these bars? They are delicious, and I'm so glad my granola bars taste very similar to them.

I'm glad to have another product that I can now make myself so I don't have to buy a prepacked version. Can you tell I'm obsessed about controlling what goes in my food? When you have abdominal issues, this becomes a must.

Another plus is how easy these are to make. I haven't had much energy the past couple weeks, but these came together rather quickly. These bars were plenty sweet for me, since I don't eat much sugar, but if you like things sweet I'd stir in more (up to 1/4 c brown sugar). I sprinkled brown sugar on top to give the tops of the bars a bit of a sweet, sugar crunch.



Granola Bars
Printer-friendly recipe
Yield: about 16 bars

2 c rolled oats
½ c chopped almonds
½ c chopped walnuts
½ c uncooked quinoa
½ c shredded coconut (I used ¼ c dried coconut)
2 Tbl ground flaxseed meal
2/3 cup honey, agave or combo of both
1 ½ tsp vanilla
2-3 Tbl flaxseed oil
pinch kosher salt
¼-½ tsp cinnamon
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 ½ c chopped dried fruit, or a mix of your favorite dried fruit (I chopped up dried apricots, and tossed in dried cranberries and pomegranate seeds)
~2 Tbl brown sugar

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Toss the oatmeal, nuts, quinoa, coconut, and flaxseed meal together on a 9 x 13” baking sheet or dish (I used a 9 x 13”cake pan). Bake 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until toasted and lightly browned.

Reduce oven to 300F.

While oats are toasting, combine honey, vanilla, flaxseed oil, salt and spices in the bottom of a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Pour in toasted oats and stir with a spatula to moisten. Stir in dried fruit.

Line your baking sheet or dish with parchment paper or grease with nonstick spray (I used the same cake pan and lined it with parchment paper; one less dish to dirty).

Pour the oat and fruit mixture into prepared baking dish and press down firmly to pack down the mixture as much as possible. Sprinkle brown sugar over the top.

Bake at 300F ~30 minutes until mixture is golden brown. Allow to cool a few hours before cutting into bars or squares. Store in airtight container at room temperature. Or freeze. I wrapped mine in cling wrap, popped them in a freezer bag and froze the bars so we could grab them as needed, they don't take long to thaw.




Source: adapted from Smitten Kitchen