Granola bars are a staple in our house. I always have a batch on hand. Making your own is great because you can customize them to the preferences of your family. The girls in my frugal household prefer as many nuts and seeds as we can pack in, where the boys would rather have just the oatmeal. (I just replace the ins with additional oatmeal.) You can make them chewy or crunchy just by adjusting the baking time.
Here is what you need:
4 cups oats
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup honey (or corn syrup)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup nuts (any variety)
1/4 cup seeds (any variety)
1/4 cup dried fruit
For the batch I made today, I used cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and craisins. I have used both quick oats and uncooked oats. If you use the quick oats, be sure to stir quickly when you add the butter so they do not absorb all the butter in one spot leaving the rest of the oatmeal dry.
Dump your oatmeal, nuts, seeds and dried fruit into a large bowl and stir together.
Add brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir until all the sugar clumps are incorporated.
Pour your butter and honey in and stir until everything is evenly coated. Make sure and scrape the bottom of the bowl so you don’t end up with dry oatmeal.
Using a rubber spatula spread the granola evenly into a well-greased pan. (This picture shows a 9X9 pan because I split it to make two pans. You can use a cookie sheet or a 9X13 pan. I personally prefer mine a little thicker so I use a 11X7 pan or a 10X10 pan. It is up to you. Just keep an eye on them when you bake them if you do thinner bars, they will cook faster.)
Bake on 450 for 10-12 minutes. If you want chewier bars don’t cook them as long. If you like them crunchy you can cook them longer.
Here are some variations:
You can drizzle the top with peanut butter, or add it into the mix! YUM!
If you want them extra chewy, add a little more honey.
Add chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or butterscotch chips.
Drizzle melted chocolate over the top.
Dip the cooked bars in almond bark.
If you come up with some add ins that I haven’t mentioned, PLEASE SHARE!!!
