Homemade Granola Bars

I have always wanted to make homemade Granola Bars. If you follow my blog you know that I love to make granola. And if you come over to my house - I always have a big jar of homemade granola on my kitchen island. Yum.

So today I tried to make granola bars - they came out okay. Yes, they were really delicious. But I couldn't get them to cut into perfect rectangles or squares. Once we finish these granola bars I am going to try another recipe.

This recipe came from the smitten kitchen.com and the recipe was adapted from Ina Garten the Barefoot Contessa. I actually watched the episode when Ina made the Granola Bars and it looked so easy when she cut them perfectly.

Ingredients:

2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal

1 cup sliced almonds

1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed

1/2 cup toasted wheat germ

2/3 cup honey

1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup dried fruit mixture

1/4 cup melted chocolate

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 9 x 13 inch pan and line it with parchment paper.

Toss the oatmeal, almonds and coconut on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Stir the mixture occasionally. Remove from the oven when the mixture is lightly browned.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add the wheat germ, honey, vanilla and salt and mix until everything is well combined. The last step is to mix in the dried fruit.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and press down with a rubber spatula coated in cooking spray. Press the mixture until it is level and tightly packed.

Bake for 27 to 30 minutes. Cool for 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares or rectangles. This is the step that left me frustrated!

Melt the chocolate and put it into a zipper bag. Twist so that the melted chocolate is down in one corner and make a very small snip. Drizzle each granola bar with chocolate. This made the bars look a little better.

Store the granola bars in an airtight container at room temperature or freeze them and defrost a few at a time.

Granola bars are great lunch box treats for the kids and a wonderful item to have in your purse for a healthy snack while you are out and about running errands.

Don't these look like misshaped Kudos bars? Please sign up to be a follower - I will love you forever!