My family loves granola bars, and they can be a convenient and relatively healthy snack to buy. But, with the rising cost of food and the ever-growing list of unhealthy ingredients in pre-packaged snacks, I knew there had to be a better way to satisfy my family, save money, and eliminate all of those "extra" ingredients that we would rather not put into our bodies. Then of course there is all of the packaging that ultimately clutters the environment - eek! So, I started making homemade granola bars, and at the request of my son's preschool teacher, I am sharing them with you here. I hope the simplicity, flexibility, and healthiness of this super-easy project inspires you to make them too! Despite my numerous photos of the process, it only takes about 10 minutes to bring it all together. Even if you have never "made" anything before, you can make granola bars - I promise!
I adapted this recipe from a couple of different ones that I had found, substituting some ingredients to work for my family's diet and tweaking it to accomodate those ingredients. Feel free to experiment with what you have on hand, and substitute for what works for you. We got our raw honey from a friend who is a beekeeper and it crystalizes in the cabinet during these winter months, so it has to be melted to work for this recipe. We also use coconut oil or olive oil instead of canola, so as to avoid genetically-modified crops (canola is often a GMO). Olive oil didn't tickle my fancy for granola bars (though I used it in a sprayer to grease the pan), so I opted for coconut oil instead, which also must be melted as it is a solid at room temperature. You can substitute for any oil you have on hand, and agave nectar can take the place of honey to make these vegan. Similarly, if you don't want to use raisins, then mini chocolate chips, mini peanut butter chips, chopped nuts, or dried cranberries would be delicious, too. (The ground flax didn't make it into the picture because we keep it in the refridgerator and I forgot to take it out until it was time to add it into the pot.)
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups quick oats
1/2 cup crisp rice cereal
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 to 1/2 cup ground flax seed (optional)
spray oil or non-stick spray
You will also need a pot to melt the honey and coconut oil (if you are using solids as I did), or a bowl to mix everything together (if you are using liquid sweetener and oil), as well as a pan. I don't have any square or rectangular pans, other than glass casserole dishes, so I used a nine-inch round spring-form cake pan and greased it well with olive oil. If using a regular pan, you will want to line it with parchment paper (NOT waxed paper) or you will have a devil of a time trying to pry the bars from the pan.
I made a double batch in these photos - granola bars don't last long around here!
Set the oven to 350 degrees and grease (or line) your pan, then start by melting the honey and coconut oil over medium-low heat. Only heat them enough to melt them. Again, if you are using liquid honey and liquid oils, you can omit the heat and just dump them in the pot or bowl.
Once the honey and oil are melted, turn off the heat and mix in the brown sugar, salt, and vanilla and stir it for until it dissolves. You can see that the honey and coconut oil separate in the pot, which is normal and fine.
Then add in the oats and rice cereal and stir it all together.
If you want, add in some flax seed. I love this stuff, and put it in baked goods all the time. It doesn't change the flavor or consistency (and it can even be substituted for oil in baked goods) and adds a punch of fiber and good omega-3 fatty acids.
Keep mixing, and eventually you will see the granola start to clump together. It should start to stay formed when pressed against the side of the pot, as you can see on the left in the photo below.
Next, add in the raisins (or other ingredients if substituting), and mix them well.
If, after adding the raisins, the granola loses some of its "clumping" and doesn't hold together as well, you can add some more honey or oil, or both, a little at a time, mixing well until starts to clump back together. To do this, I had to put the pot back on the stove on medium heat for a minute or two.
Ah, that's better - see how it is staying formed when pressed against the side of the pot?
Empty the pot or bowl into your well-greased (or lined) pan.
Press the granola down firmly with your hand, going around the pan several times if necessary, until it is well compacted all around, then tuck in the granola at the edges of the pan (or else they will be crumbly).
Once your granola is compacted and the oven is preheated, it's time to bake!
Bake them at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, but keep a close eye on them and remove them immediately once you see the edges start to brown. These took 15 minutes on the bottom rack (because I was doing a double batch and was too lazy to move our pizza stone from the top rack). Watch them very closely, or you will have burned granola!
Now comes the hard part - let them sit for at least 5 hours (I leave them overnight). Even when they feel cool, they still need more time to come together.
(THE NEXT DAY) You can see how lovely golden the edges are, even though the top looks unchanged from when they went into the oven.
The bottom is even darker. It really doesn't take much to brown these, so don't set the oven timer and walk away!
Once removed from the pan, You'll have one giant granola-cookie!
Now get the longest knife you have and decide how you want to cut them.
I don't mind the rounded edges, because they all taste the same.
If you (or your spouse, toddler, or other consumer) require perfectly rectangular bars, and you are using a round pan, you can cut them like this.
Store them in a sealed container, and when packing them for a lunch or snack you can wrap them in waxed paper, a cloth napkin, or toss them into a handy re-usable snack bag as I do.
But don't just throw away the crumbs! Granola and plain yogurt... A match made in heaven!
There's something awesome about the tang of the yogurt and the sweetness of the granola - yum!
Enjoy!
