Homemade granola bars/ trail mix bars

Homemade granola bars/ trail mix bars

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Gather your ingredients:

2 2/3 cups oats
3/4 cup wheat germ
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup almonds, sliced
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup dates
1/3 cup craisins
1/2 cup chocolate chip minis
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 coconut flakes (unsweetened, really fine)
1/4 cup honey
1/8 cup agave
4 Tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon

approximately:

1 cup dried fruit
4 1/2 cups dry
1 3/4 cups sticky/liquid glue

Mix nuts,oats, seeds, and wheat germ in a baking dish with sides. Toast them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, stirring every few minutes so that they don't get burned.

Meanwhile, prepare a glass baking dish (about 11 x 13 inches) for your granola by lining it with waxed paper or parchment lightly sprayed with a nonstick spray.

Put the brown sugar, coconut, honey, agave, butter,peanut butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt into a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly.

By now, your grains and nuts should be toasted, so turn off your oven, and mix everything together in a large bowl. The grains, the liquid “glue,” and the dried fruit. Add the chocolate chips last. (I think next time I will put them in as I press the mixture into the pan (the next step), to be on the top, and not get all melty and messy)Mix everything REALLY WELL because you want to make sure the “glue” gets all over everything. 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 wrapped ours individually in plastic wrap, so that we could just throw one into our bag in the morning. If you’d like to save on packaging though, you can store yours in an airtight container, between sheets of waxed paper (so they don’t stick together).

Enjoy!

I think next time I will do themes:
chocolate chip peanut butter nutty bar,
fruit and nut bar,
almond and fruit bar (breakfast bar)...