A Staple in Our House

The Best Home-Made Granola Bars

This recipe comes from Amy, one of my awesome Playgroup Mommys.

Mix all of the dry ingredients first. Then make a well.

This is the oil I use for most things.


Add wet ingredients into the well.


I prefer to mix this recipe with my hands. It must come from all of those times I made homemade noodles with my Nanny.



Press into a 9x13 in. pan. Make sure to grease well. I use Pam Olive Oil Spray.



Not sure why I couldn't cut them all the same size today. They are usually a little more uniform. Oh well.

THE BEST HOME-MADE GRANOLA BARS
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups rolled oats (quick cooking oats are fine. That's what I use)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ (or wheat bran)
1 cup all-purpose or whole wheat flour
3/4 cup choc. chips, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, or raisins,
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, flour, chips and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well. I use my hands (this is very sticky). Pat and press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake for 20-30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges (you'll want to start checking them after about 20 minutes; in my oven it only takes 25 minutes - you want them to be just turning brown around the edges). Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut. Place on wax paper and cool completely.

NOTES:
* I use chocolate chips instead of raisins, or sometimes a combination of choc. and peanut butter chips.
* You can replace all or some of the oil with melted peanut butter.
* You can add a bit of ground flaxseed if you like.
* After cooling, I put each bar into a snack-size ziplock bag and keep them in a container in the fridge; the kids can just grab one and go.