Homemade Granola Bars

Slowly but surely, we have been minimizing our processed food consumption.  In general, I would consider us to be fairly contentious with what we eat but lately we have been on a kick to make a few incremental changes on account of living our best life.  Neither of us grew up in homes where packaged food and snacks reigned so we tend to easily avoid the obvious processed foods.  But there is always room for improvement.

Afternoon snacks have been presenting a challenge for us.  We are in the midst of training for our first marathon so our usual light lunch left us starving by the time we would get home and have time to make dinner.   Fruit is ideal but is not always the easiest to tote around.  I personally strongly dislike the slew of "vitamin enriched energy bars" that are out there.  Packaged granola bars are just that - prepackaged, processed snack food... and Dan tends to still be hungry after these snacks. 

So we decided to give homemade granola bars a try.  Oh my goodness.  They are awesome.  No crummy "fortified" or fake flavor here.  They taste fantastic, are perfectly filling, and are easily portable.

They are also extremely easy to make.  The tricks come down to avoiding the temptation to add extra dried fruit or nuts midway through (as you will throw off the balance/ratios) and using the right sized pan so that they meet your desired chewy or hard preference.  I like mine to be a little thinner (easier for nibbling) and more chewy than Alton's original recipe so use a bigger pan and cut the cooking time by 5 minutes. I also add a bit of unsweetened coconut flakes and a handful of bittersweet chocolate chips; the trick for incorporating these is to add them after you have put the mixture in the pan and as you are pressing it all down. 

It has become part of our routine to make these almost weekly.  I make them as I multi-task with cleaning the house.

Granola Bars

Adapted from Alton Brown

• 8 ounces old-fashioned rolled oats, approximately 2 cups
• 1 1/2 ounces raw sunflower seeds, approximately 1/2 cup
• 3 ounces sliced almonds, approximately 1 cup(I like to do a combo of almonds and chopped walnuts)
• 3/4 ounces wheat germ
• 3/4 ounces flax seed
• 1/2 ounce unsweetened coconut flakes
• 6 ounces honey, approximately 1/2 cup
• 1 3/4 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1/4 cup packed
• 1-ounce unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 1/2 ounces chopped dried fruit, any combination of apricots, cherries or blueberries (I like raisins and dried cherries; blueberries don't add a whole lotta flavor)

Butter a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, unsweetened coconut flakes, wheat germ, and flax seed onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved.

Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish, sprinkle with a handful of bittersweet chocolate chips and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Comments

[Emily]

Nick and I have been trying to cut back on processed foods, too. We baked our first loaf of bread this week, and were pretty impressed. I've been looking for a granola bar recipe to try, and this one looks great! Love the addition of coconut and chocolate.

[Maggie [The Freckled Citizen]]

I'd love to make these! This would be a great weekend project :-)

[Cindy]

Those are some mighty fine lookin garnola bars. I'm printing out the reicpe and hope to give them a try if it ever cools down enough to run the oven.
When I've made granola bars in the past, they've kept very well in the freezer.
Thanks! Here via Tastespotting.

[Annalise]

These look great! They would be perfect as a snack for our outdoor hiking adventures this weekend. Think I might have to give them a try, thanks for the inspiration!