Homemade Granola Bars
Everyone in my house loves granola bars. While we like to pretend that they are a healthy snack, most of the store bought kinds are filled with junk. In hopes of creating a healthy alternative, my kid and I set out to make some granola bars from scratch. Our first attempted was a no-bake recipe. My kid liked the taste but I had to feed them to him because they were way too sticky. (He didn’t want to keep washing his hands!) The next attempt was baked in a 9×13 pan, but once they cooled we practically needed a saw to cut them and they fell apart anyway. Then one morning while we were baking muffins it hit me that muffin tins could very well be the solution to our quest for the perfect granola bars. Although “bars” aren’t usually round, we decided to go for it. We created our own new recipe and tried it out in the muffin tins… and voila! Not too sticky, not too hard, these granola bars were just right! We think these make the perfect play date snack, hostess gift or simply breakfast on-the-go.
Prep Time: 15 mins Cooking Time: 30 mins
Ingredients:
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup sliced or chopped raw nuts
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
2/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 to 3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 egg white
1 1/2 cup chopped dried fruit (cherries, almonds, apricots, raisins)
Preheat the oven at 350 degrees. Prepare muffin pan with paper liners.
On a sheet pan, spread the oatmeal and nuts and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Stir a few times while cooking and remove from oven when lightly browned. Reduce the oven temp to 300 degrees.
Pour warm oats into a large bowl and stir in wheat germ, honey, vanilla, salt, brown sugar, vegetable oil and cinnamon. Combine very well. Check to make sure the mixture has cooled down and add egg. Mix to distribute evenly and add dried fruit. Spoon the mixture into prepared muffin pan. Using a second muffin pan, press the granola down very firmly! It’s important that the mixture is as packed down as possible.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool completely before carefully removing liners. Makes 12 round granola bars.
-
- Oatmeal and nuts reading for toasting.
-
- Vanilla time.
-
- Adding honey.
-
- Sprinkling cinnamon.
-
- Mixing it up.
-
- Scooping mixture into cups.
-
- Pressing and flattening before baking.
-
- Homemade granola bars.
posted by Rebecca & Gus // Mar 10th, 2010 // Recipes, Snacks, Veggie Friendly
17 Comments »
I make granola every weekend, but I might have to switch it up and give these bars a try.
Hi! I wandered over here from Prudent Baby… these look amazing! We, too, make granola, but have never tried bars. Now I need to go get some muffin liners asap.
Now this looks fantastic. Just the kind of snack that would be a perfect mid-afternoon pick-me-up. Rebby, you need to check out my friend's cousin's blog: simplysavor.com. She has some great suggestions for making unhealthy things healthy.
Yum! I love granola bars, too – I'm going to have to give these a try. I LOVE the round shape!
Can I swap the dried fruit for chocolate chips?
Yes! Chocolate chips would be great. You could also add coconut if you like.
this look delish!! can't wait to make them.
One more question: how critical are the muffin cup liners?
You are a genius. I love everything about these bars and am on my way to the store for ingredients. Thanks again for another wonderful idea and recipe!
I think if you grease the muffin tins really well you should be OK. The critical part is going to be when to take them out of the tins. If you take them out too early they will fall apart – that's why I like using liners. That way I can get them all out of the tins and cooling without having them fall apart. Then I wait to carefully remove liners. Try it out with a well greased pan, wait for them to cool enough but take them out before they are completely cool so that you don't have a sticking problem. Please report back on how this went! The MOST IMPORTANT part of the recipe is the pressing. Press them down very very firmly. If you don't have a second muffin tin, use a greased rubber spatula and press press press.
[...] granola? Head over to Prudent Mama. I just found a tasty looking granola recipe over there from Cooking With My Kid! Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Loving Every Day: 2010 ResolutionsGranola bars to [...]
My kiddo has a peanut/tree nut allergy…do you think the recipe would work if we forgo the nuts?
Hi again, I was comment #2. I made these yesterday and am in love. Love, love, love. Batch #2 will be made tonight, this time no nuts, yes chocolate chips. And the recipes is now going to live in my permanent file of recipes. Mmm, mmm, good! Thanks so much for sharing.
[...] Homemade Oatmeal Granola Bars. Yes oatmeal, see a pattern here? [...]
I've gotten so much positive feedback on these bars! Glad you are liking them and experimenting. No nuts is fine. Substitutions are encouraged. Enjoy! Tell me how they come out…
This is a great idea. I'm looking forward to making them myself.
I normally make a different type of bar every couple of weeks. We are giving this a try today. Thanks for the idea. My kids can't have the brown sugar so we will up the honey a bit… we will see how it goes.