Week 3: Granola bars

I'll bet you all thought I was going to forget to post this week. Ha! I actually got the baking done on Wednesday, but haven't had a spare minute to update the blog until today. So you see, I am NOT failing or procrastinating... I'm busy. :)

I love granola bars. Love them. My favorite is Maple Brown Sugar from Nature Valley. They're sweet and crunchy and yummy. They're also expensive. I can get them on sale for $3.50 a box, if I'm lucky. There's got to be a better way, right? You betcha. Here we go... homemade granola bars! :)

Granola Bars

Recipe from www.thefrugalgirl.com

Makes a 9x13 pan

2 c. quick cooking oats

1 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 c. packed brown sugar (I used 1/4 c.)

3/4 c. mini chocolate chips

1/2 c. wheat germ

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1/2 c. honey

1 egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, chocolate chips and salt in a bowl. Make sure you beat all the lumps out of the brown sugar.

If you'd like to make cinnamon raisin bars, you can substitute 3/4 c. raisins for the chocolate chips, and add 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon to the dry ingredients. Oh, and you can substitute whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour (that's for you, Kristin!).

Combine egg, oil and honey in a small bowl. Whisk it like crazy until everything is combined.

My lovely assistant, Ashleigh, is quite proficient as whisking. Notice the concentration on her face. Making granola bars is serious business. :)

Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix it all up.

Pour the whole mess into a greased 9x13 inch pan. Using a greased spatula or wet spoon, spread it into an even layer. You may think there isn't enough to fill the pan, but don't fret-- it'll spread all the way out. Just be patient and keep working at it.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges (it took the full 18 minutes in my oven). Completely cool pan on a wire rack. When it's all cooled, cut into whatever size bars you like.

We didn't even cover the bars after cutting them. They are nice and moist, and honey is a pretty good preservative. I'm not sure how long they'd keep without being in a covered container, as we ate the entire pan in 3 days.

These are more like cookie bars than crunchy granola bars. I'd compare them to the Quaker chewy granola bars you can buy in the store. I'm looking forward to trying out different combinations of dried fruits and nuts. Let me know what works for you!