Granola Power Bars

 

 

 

 

 

 

The granola bar industry is a thriving one as these bars make healthy snacks which you can nibble on when hunger strikes between meals. They are however not very pocket friendly and some times contain a lot of ingredients you can do without. In this post, I will be sharing the formula for making your own chewy and crunchy granola bars at home. I love recipes like this one which you can personalize with your own selection of fruits, seeds and nuts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

Key Ingredients (See Note 1):

(1) 2 Cups Old Fashion Rolled Oats (See Note 2)

(2) 2/3 Cup Honey

(3) 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil (See Note 3)

(4) 1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Discretionary Ingredients (See Note 4):

(1) 1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

(2) 1/2 Cup Coconut Flakes (Sweetened or Unsweetened)

(3) 1/2 Cup Whole Almond Seeds.

(4) 1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries

(5) 1/2 Cup Pumpkin Seeds

(6) 2 Tablespoons Flax Seeds

(7) 2 Tablespoons Chia Seeds

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOTES:

(1) These 4 ingredients form the key ingredients for these granola bars. Thus, while you can vary the remaining ingredients, be sure to have these 4 included.

(2) For more hearty bars, make use of old fashion rolled oats. These can be found in bulk stores or the bulk aisles of grocery stores. If however it is impossible to find these, instant oats will do.

(3) Don’t have olive oil? Use any oil you have. Some coconut oil will be great here. You can also use melted butter.

(4) You will need an average of 2 cups of these ingredients. So, you need not go with my recipe. You can use any nuts or dried fruits of your choice. The flax and chia seeds are the “power” components of these bars and can be left out. You can also sneak in some chocolate chips if you like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROCEDURE:

(1) First, line the bottom and sides of a 9 x 9 inch square cake pan with parchment paper. Don’t have a 9 x 9 inch square pan? No problem. Use whatever shape of pan you have which is close to this size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(2) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

(3) In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients aside from the vanilla extract, olive oil and honey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(4) In a small sauce pan, heat the olive oil and honey until the mixture starts to boil. Turn off the heat and add the vanilla extract.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(5) Pour the honey mixture into the dry ingredients and mix to evenly coat them with the mixture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(6) Pour the mixture into your prepared cake pan and press it into the bottom and sides of the pan. This step is very important. You can wet your hands a bit when pressing down the mixture so it does not stick to your hands. Alternatively, use the bottom of a cup to make sure it is pressed down tightly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(7) Bake in the preheated oven for 30 – 40 minutes, depending on how brown and crunchy you want your bars to be. The outer edge of the granola will be darker than the interior.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(8) Allow the bars to cool on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes before taking it out of the pan. It will still be relatively soft. To remove the granola from the pan, turn the pan over on a chopping board, place another board on the granola and invert it. Do not try to pick it up by the parchment paper or it would break.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(9) Use a knife and divide the granola into bars. I divided mine into 1.5 inch strips and then divided all the strips into two to get 12 bars. You can make yours as large or as small as you like. It is better to divide the bars when they are still soft.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(10) Leave the bars to cool and harden. This will take about 2 hours. The bars will be chewy and crunchy. To make them even crunchier, store them in the fridge.

BONUS RECIPE:

You might as well also try making your own honey granola crunch at home. Recipe here.