Granola Bars
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Gather your ingredients:
2 cups oats
3/4 cup wheat germ
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup sliced almonds
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
4 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
approximately 8 oz. dried cranberries
I also added 1/2 C of semi sweet chocolate chips
Mix the almonds, oats, wheat germ, and sunflower seeds on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, stirring every few minutes so that they don’t burn.
Prepare a glass baking dish (about 11 x 13 inches) for your granola by lining it with waxed paper lightly sprayed with a nonstick spray.
Combine the brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla, and salt into a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly.
Once grains and nuts are toasted, transfer to a large bowl. Add the cranberries and chocolate chips and stir to combine. Add the sugar and honey mixture and stir to be sure every surface of the grains and dried fruit are coated. The chocolate will melt into the mixture. Now, dump your granola mixture into your prepared baking dish.
Spread out the mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula.
Now fold over the sides of the waxed paper or add a sheet on top, and PRESS HARD all over the granola. You want to compact it together so that your bars won’t fall apart when you cut them.
Wait 2-3 hours or until the granola has totally cooled.
Then, open the waxed paper …And carefully turn the granola onto a large cutting board, peeling away the rest of the paper. Now, firmly pressing down with a big knife (not sawing), cut your granola into whatever size bars you’d like.
I usually cut the pan into 16 bars, so for less than the cost of one box of granola bars, I get the equivalent of three or four!
