Really Moist and Chewy Granola Bars

When you think of granola you usually think hard and dry.  Well, it’s a new world out there because I have found a recipe for a moist, slightly sweet, chewy, delicious granola bar.  This recipe can be as nutty or fruity as you like, depending on your taste or your mood and can be “store bought” sweet or less so if you want to pretend to be a little more healthy.

Apples and granola bars are a staple for me –the perfect mid-day snack! They are full of healthy ingredients but taste like a treat!  Since they tend to be surprisingly expensive for what they are, I thought I would try and make my own.  Turns out they are so easy to make I might never buy another box again!  This recipe is so versatile I can change the nuts and fruits and make a new kind of bar each and every time.

Delicious!

Really Moist and Chewy Granola Bars

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats

1/2 cup granulated sugar (You can use up to 3/4 cup if you want it to be sweeter- I didn’t in this recipe)

1/3 cup of oat flour (I put oats in a coffee grinder and made my own flour.  For just a 1/3 of a cup I’m not sure why you would want to buy a whole new kind of flour)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

3 cups of dried fruits/nuts (this is where you can get creative.  For this recipe I used roasted almonds, walnuts, dried apricots, dried cranberries and golden raisins)

1/3 cup of almond butter (you can also use peanut butter but I’m sure the taste of the granola bars would change  A LOT if you did – I used almond butter)

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 tbs of melted butter

1/4 cup honey

2 tbs light corn syrup (I wasn’t crazy about using corn syrup.  I’m sure there is a more organic/natural sweetener I can use.  Maybe just more honey?)

1 tbs water

 

Directions:

These might just be the easiest baking directions. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 pan.  Cover the pan with parchment paper making sure to cut it too long so it hangs off the sides.  Grease the parchment paper too.

Mix together the dry ingredients, nuts and fruits

Mix together the wet ingredients

Mix dry and wet ingredients together

Pat beautiful and colorful mixture into the pan

Doesn’t that just look delicious?

Bake for about 30-40 minutes.  Mine definitely took 40.  They are going to look like they aren’t done – a little like seriously under baked oatmeal cookies that melted into one big cookie- but do not fear.  They are done! Take them out of the oven and put the pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes.  Since the parchment paper is sticking out on the sides you can easily pick up the large “bar” and let it finish cooling out of the pan.

Once they are cool use a serrated knife or a chef’s knife to cut them into the sizes you want! 

Wrap them individually in plastic wrap or put them in tupperware.  After my caramel experiment I wasn’t really ready to individually wrap anything, so tupperware it was! 

Granola and orange juice for a quick breakfast!