Chewy Granola Bars – From Scratch

Pumpkin Pancake Update.  For those of you who think you don’t have time to make a batter from scratch, I timed myself this morning and while carrying a 25 lb. 14 month old I made pumpkin pancake batter in 5 minutes from start to finish.  That includes getting the ingredients out and everything!

Continuing with my “from scratch” theme, I have wanted to try granola bars for a long time.  I have made a few, but they were always crunchy.  I like the chewy ones and came across this recipe.  With some adaptations for those of us without “sticky bun sugar” on hand, you can make this at home easy.  Even the kids could help.  For the dried fruit and nuts, I used Trader Joe’s Legendary Fruit and Nut mix in the bag with the blue sticker.  It contains dried blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, almonds, cashews, walnuts and probably something else I’m forgetting.

These will be the best granola bars you ever had!

Chewy Granola Bars
yield 10-16 servings (depending on how large you cut the bar)

1 and 2/3 cups quick cooking oats
1/2-3/4 cup sugar (depending how sweet and how much fruit you have)
1/3 cup oat flour (simply put 1/3 cup quick cooking oats in food processor or blender and whirl away until like flour)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
10-15 oz. of dried fruit and nuts, chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 Tbs. melted butter or vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbs. light corn syrup
1 Tbs. water

1.   Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Prepare a 8×8 or 9×9 pan with parchment or nonstick foil hanging over the sides.
2.  Mix all the dry stuff together in a great big bowl:  oats, sugar, oat flour, salt, cinnamon, fruit and nuts.
3.  In a medium bowl, combine the wet stuff: vanilla, melted butter, honey, light corn syrup and water.
4.  Now pour the wet stuff into the dry stuff and stir until combined.
5.  Pack it into the 8×8 or 9×9 pan.  Squish it but don’t put your whole weight into it.  Bake 25-30 minutes – the edges will start to turn brown.
6.  Important:  completely cool before cutting or you will end up with granola.
7.  When completely cool (and if you are impatient like me, you stuck it into the fridge to speed up the process), cut into bars and enjoy!

Notes!
**If bars are coming out crumbly, stick in the fridge to harden up.
**You can store these in the fridge OR freezer OR air tight container.

Recipe adapted from KingArthurFlour.com