I made granola bars for the first time in a long time.
I finally got over my awful miserable mistake attempt at making granola bars without reading the recipe last May! Luckily my visiting cousins were very open minded to eating little blops of almost caramel in a pile of dry oats and some dried fruit.


I saw a recipe in TheFreshMarket's magazine/catalog that inspired me to give granola bars another try. There was no way I was going to used the recipe that -I didn't read-made me make the non bars last time.


Toast the oats and nuts partway through add the bran and wheat germ


combine honey,


brown sugar, butter, vanilla, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a saucepan and place over medium heat, stirring occasionally.


Cook until brown sugar has completely dissolved.


pour the liquid mixture into oat mixture, and dried fruit; stir to combine. Don't waste any time.


Dump it into the pans and press it down.


Use a sheet of waxed paper if it sticks to your hands.




I like to cut mine into bars


and wrap them individually.
Sesame seeds are really good but I forgot to put any in.


Granola bars

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 cups puffed rice
1/4 cup bran
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup chopped Pecans
1/2 cup chopped Almonds
4tblsp butter plus extra for pan
1/2 cup Honey
1/2 cup Brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1-2 cups dried fruit, chopped (apricot, Candied ginger, pineapple and cranberries)

Preparation:

Butter a 9x 12 and a 9 x 9 inch baking dish and set aside. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread the oats, pecans, bran, almonds and wheat germ onto pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. In the meantime, combine honey, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a saucepan and place over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cook until brown sugar has completely dissolved. Once the oat mixture is done, remove from oven and reduce heat to 300°F. In a large bowl immediately add oat mixture, liquid mixture and dried fruit; stir to combine. Turn mixture onto the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing mixture in the dish and allow to cool completely. Cut into bars and store in an airtight container for up to a week or freeze.