MICHELLE,S GRANOLA BARS

MICHELLE,S GRANOLA BARS image

Categories Nut Bake Picnic Quick & Easy Wheat/Gluten-Free

Yield 12 bars

Number Of Ingredients 10

Ingredients

2 cups oats
Â¾ cup wheat germ
Â¾ cup sunflower seeds
1 cup peanuts, crushed
â cup brown sugar
Â½ cup honey
4 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
Â½ tsp Kosher salt
approximately 8 oz. dried fruit

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Place peanuts in a plastic bag and smash them with a heavy mallet, measuring cup, or sauce pan. 2. Mix the peanuts, oats, wheat germ, and sunflower seeds in a baking dish and toast them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, stirring every few minutes. 3. Prepare a glass baking dish (about 11 x 13 inches) for your granola, lining it with parchment paper. 4. Put the brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla, and salt into a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. 5. Mix your toasted grains and nuts together in a large bowl with the sugar mixture and the dried fruit. 6. Mix REALLY WELL to make sure it is completely coated. Put granola mixture into your prepared baking dish. 7. Spread mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula. Fold over the sides of the parchment paper or add a sheet on top, and PRESS HARD all over the granola. You want to compress it together so that your bars won't fall apart when you cut them. 8. 9. Wait 2-3 hours or until the granola has totally cooled. Then, open the paper and carefully turn the granola onto a large cutting board, peeling away the rest of the paper. 10. Firmly pressing down with a big knife (not sawing), cut your granola into whatever size bars you'd like. 11. You can wrap bars individually in plastic to keep them from sticking or store in an airtight container, between sheets of parchment paper. Notes Of course, you can mix up the recipe. I used peanuts because they're what we had, but next time I'm going to make the granola nutless at first, but during the pressing-down part, I plan to press almonds into the top of the bars. Another combo that would be fun to try is macadamia nuts, dried pineapple, and coconut flakes. Or try dried cranberries, walnuts, and white chocolate chips (just a few). I also plan to add flax seed to my granola mix. Different flavors of honey would also probably change the final outcome too. Mmm...