Homemade Granola Bars w/ Recipe

See below for the recipe I used. ;)

Homemade granola bars.

Oats, coconut, sesame seeds, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, slivered almonds.

Butter, brown sugar, honey.



Vanilla.




How did those mini chocolate chips get on there?!?



Toasty warm.

Scored so they will be easier to remove once they have cooled.

 

I'll take one. Or two. Or three, please.

I used the recipe by Denise Garoutte found here and tweaked it to my liking:

My Version of Homemade Granola Bars

Ingredients

2½ cups rolled oats (old-fashioned or instant)

1 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup slivered almonds

4 tablespoons butter or margarine

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tbsp mini chocolate chips*

Directions:

While your oven is preheating to 300°F, spread the oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, wheat germ and almonds evenly on a 9" x 12" baking sheet. Bake these dry ingredients for 15 minutes*, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, heat the butter, brown sugar, and honey in a small saucepan, allowing the brew to simmer until the oat mixture is ready to come out of the oven.

Remove the honey mixture from the heat and let cool for a few minutes* before stirring in the vanilla extract. Pour the hot liquid over the oat mixture and stir until all the dry ingredients are coated.

Next, spread the granola mixture into the bottom of a greased 9" x 12" pan*. Sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of mini chocolate chips over top. Press the granola firmly into the bottom of the pan.

Tip: Place a piece of wax paper over the granola mixture and use another pan of the same size to press down and evenly flatten the granola mixture.

Bake at 300°F for 15 minutes* or until golden brown at the edges. 

When you remove the granola from the oven, allow it to cool only slightly before cutting it into bars, but wait until it's completely cool before removing the bars from the pan.

My tweaks to the recipe included:

*omitting the raisins and substituting 1-2 tablespoons of mini chocolate chips

* toasting the dry ingredients for 15 minutes instead of 20

* letting the honey mixture cool slightly before adding the vanilla to prevent burning

* baking in a 9" x 12" pan for thinner bars instead of an 8" x 8" pan