Granola Bars

Granola Bars (from here)

Notes: These were pretty good! They were more crumbly than what I would normally expect for a granola bar, but they were delicious.

2 c. old-fashioned oatmeal
1 c. sliced almonds
1 c. shredded coconut, loosely packed
1/2 c. toasted wheat germ
2/3 c. honey
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 c. dried fruit (I used craisin's).

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Butter an 8×12-inch baking dish (lacking this, I used a 9×13-inch) and line it with parchment paper.

Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ. Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F.

While the mixture is still warm, stir in the honey, vanilla and salt until the mixture is well coated, then the dried fruit. Pour the mixture into your prepared baking dish and press, press, press it in (wet fingers and/or a silicon spatula work great for this) until the mixture is packed as tightly as possible.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares — your best serrated knife is great for this.

You can store these in an airtight container at room temperature for a week or two, as you would cookies, however, I prefer to store mine in the freezer. I find that they stay the most crisp this way as all granola tends to soften at room temperature after a day or more.