Granola Bars! Yay :0)

 The Inspiration...

           Big, little, sweet, salty, there are many versions of granola bars! I have been a fan of the cute, little snack for a while, and they come in handy when you need a quick bite. I found that if I made my own granola bars, I could put EXACTLY what I wanted inside them, and leave out anything that I don’t want in my granola bar too! 

           This is perfect timing, since I need a snack after my hour and a half workout in the pool, starting at 6:20 a.m. (I am a swimmer on a swim team. GO SHARKS!!) After I did my homework: researching different recipes on these little guys, I found the recipe I loved the most...Alton Brown’s recipe from Food Network, but I changed up a few things to his recipe to make it mine. (A good chef turns a simple recipe into their own with a few little touches :0) 

           If you are looking to print this recipe, I have put all of the directions and ingredients all together toward the way bottom of the blog, without all of the pictures so it is more easy to print :0) Hope it helps! 

 The Recipe… 

           For these granola bars, you can switch around many different ingredients if you don’t like some. Add more of one ingredient, or less of another, whatever is going to taste great for you! Also, as I‘m eating up theses granola bars, I found that there are many other ways that you can eat them up. I tried crumbling them up on top of yogurt (YUUUUUMM!) And my Mom thought of crumbling them up onto her oatmeal! There are endless possibilities… Let’s get to it! You’re going to want to eat these as soon as you can! 

Ingredients you will need: 

• 2 cups Rolled Oats 
• 1 1/2 cups of Chopped Nuts ( I used Almonds and Brazil nuts) 
• 1/2 cup of Wheat Germ 
• 1/2 cup of Honey 
• 1/4 cup packed Brown Sugar 
• 2 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter 
• 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract 
• 1/2 tsp. Salt 
• 6 oz. Dried Fruit ( I used dried cranberries, semi chopped) 
• 1 cup of Mini Chocolate Chips 

 Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350*, evenly spread rolled oats, chopped nuts, and wheat germ on a cookie sheet. Toast them in the oven for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (I stirred them every 5 minutes) 

Step 2: In the meantime, combine honey, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt into a medium sauce pan or pot. (Make sure it is big enough to hold all of your toasted oat mixture) Heat the pot on medium heat, and stir the mixture until the brown sugar is completely dissolved (The sugar will melt quickly) 

Step 3: Gather your dried fruit and chocolate chips to add into the bar. I semi chopped the fruit to make the pieces smaller and more bite sized. 

Step 4: Once the oat mixture is toasted completely, take it out of the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 300* 

Step 5: Immediately add your oat mixture into your pot/pan, and stir until your oats are completely covered in the honey mixture. Then, add in your dried fruit and chocolate chips and stir until combined. 

Step 6: Take your granola bar mixture and dump it into a prepared, greased 9x9” pan. Press the granola mixture until there is an even layer of granola bar in the pan. 

Step 7: Bake the bars in a 300* oven for 25 minutes.  Let them cool completely and ENJOY!! 

Granola Bars:

Ingredients you will need: 

• 2 cups Rolled Oats 
• 1 1/2 cups of Chopped Nuts ( I used Almonds and Brazil nuts) 
• 1/2 cup of Wheat Germ 
• 1/2 cup of Honey 
• 1/4 cup packed Brown Sugar 
• 2 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter 
• 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract 
• 1/2 tsp. Salt 
• 6 oz. Dried Fruit ( I used dried cranberries, semi chopped) 
• 1 cup of Mini Chocolate Chips 

Directions:

 Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350*, evenly spread rolled oats, chopped nuts, and wheat germ on a cookie sheet. Toast them in the oven for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (I stirred them every 5 minutes) 

Step 2: In the meantime, combine honey, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt into a medium sauce pan or pot. (Make sure it is big enough to hold all of your toasted oat mixture) Heat the pot on medium heat, and stir the mixture until the brown sugar is completely dissolved (The sugar will melt quickly) 

Step 3: Gather your dried fruit and chocolate chips to add into the bar. I semi chopped the fruit to make the pieces smaller and more bite sized. 

Step 4: Once the oat mixture is toasted completely, take it out of the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 300* 

Step 5: Immediately add your oat mixture into your pot/pan, and stir until your oats are completely covered in the honey mixture. Then, add in your dried fruit and chocolate chips and stir until combined. 

Step 6: Take your granola bar mixture and dump it into a prepared, greased 9x9” pan. Press the granola mixture until there is an even layer of granola bar in the pan. 

Step 7: Bake the bars in a 300* oven for 25 minutes.  Let them cool completely and ENJOY!!