Homemade and Healthy Granola Bars

I am always looking for foods that Evan likes that I can make myself instead of buying them.  I LIKE knowing exactly what goes into them.  I’m a bit of a control freak that way.  I also like to have easy breakfast foods for me on hand.  I usually eat breakfast on the way to work or first thing when I get there. Items that are ready to go and easy to eat on the run are high on my list.

Today’s recipe comes from the lovely Deb Perelman over at Smitten Kitchen.  If you haven’t visited her website before, you don’t know what you are missing.  She has awesome recipes and even better pictures (plus her little guy is ADORABLE!).  The recipe below is exactly how I made it.  Deb’s recipe write up goes into much more detail around additions/subtractions/options, etc.  Definitely go check her recipe out to see how you can tweak these to make them your own!

Granola Bars
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup oats processed in a blender until finely ground (or oat flour)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup Craisins
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup coconut
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 Tbsp melted butter
1/4 cup agave nectar (could also use honey or corn syrup)
2 Tbsp corn syrup (b/c I ran out of agave nectar)
1 Tbsp water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line an 8X8X2 pan with parchment paper.  Let the ends of the paper hang off two sides (make it too big).  I trimmed my paper so that it didn’t go past the top on the other two sides.  Spray the parchment paper with non-stick spray.

Chop your Craisins and pecans into smaller pieces (unless you are okay with big chunks).  Stir together the dry ingredients (oats, sugar, oat flour, salt, cinnamon, Craisins, pecans & coconut).  In a separate bowl stir together the remaining ingredients.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until well mixed.  Press into the prepared pan.  You want to press firmly so that the granola bars will have some stability.

Bake the bars for 30 to 40 minutes or until brown around the edges and a little brown on the tops.  The middle will seem to soft but it’s okay.

Cool the bars completely in their pan or after 20 minutes use the parchment paper as a sling to pull the bars out to finish cooling.  Warning – this may lead the edge of your granola bars to crack which can lead to a few messy bars.  I ended up putting my bars into the fridge to firm up more for cutting.

Once cool, use a serrated knife to cut into squares or bars.  Store wrapped individually in plastic or in a airtight container.  I kept mine in the refrigerator.  These also freeze well.

Recipe Notes: OMG these are GOOD!  You will never buy a store bought granola bar again!  Dewey and I both love them.  I haven’t really tried to get Evan to eat them (guess I don’t really want to share).  This will seem like a really small batch of bars but they are pretty filling so a small one is plenty.  Also, I found these to be a bit on the sweet side so I will cut down on the sugar in the next batch.  All in all, this recipe is a keeper.

Don’t forget to head on over to Shan’s to see what else is cooking this Wednesday!