Granola Bars

My college athletic career may be over, but I still want to be fueled up for activities. (Activities!!!) I like having bars of different varieties in the middle of the day to stave off hunger pangs. Odwalla, Luna, and Clif tend to be my go –to brands, but I have been getting curious about making my own lately. After seeing a great recipe for granola bars on Brown Eyed Baker adapted from a foolproof formula on GoodLife {eats} I knew I had to take a whack at it.

Her recipe lists ingredients and measurements while leaving room for personalization. I used what I had in my house; oats, dried cherries, peanuts, almonds, peanut butter, syrup, and dried cranberries.

The result tasted great, the peanut butter and cherries were the unlikely stars. The texture, however, was a little tough. I had to substitute steel cut oats for half of the grain portion. These tough little buggers made the bars extra thick. We’re all glad that Nelly likes the thicky-thick girls, but some things shouldn’t be quite so dense.

Next time I will use only regular oats, unless I’m building a house using granola bars as bricks.

Basic Granola Bar Formula

(brought to you by GoodLife {eats})

1. Rolled Grains (2 ½ cups)

            suggestions: oats, rye flakes, barley flakes, etc.

2. Nuts, seeds & spices (1 cup)

            suggestions: almonds, walnuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, ginger, etc.

3. Sticky sweetener (1/3 cup + ¼ cup)

            suggestions: honey, agave necter, maple syrup, etc.

4. Dried fruits (1 cup)

            suggestions: raisins, apricots, dates, figs, prunes, cranberries, pineapple, etc.

5. Binder (1 cup)

            suggestions: pureed dried fruit, apple butter, peanut butter, applesauce, etc.

Mix ingredients together.

Press into 8x8 pan.

Bake for 30 minutes at 325.

Cool and cut.