Banana Chocolate Granola Bars

• 1 tsp. butter
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1 1/2 cups cashews, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup banana chips, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups brown rice crisp cereal (sold at Whole Foods and other "natural" stores, or substitute Rice Krispy cereal)
• 1 cup brown rice syrup (sold at Whole Foods and other "natural" stores)
• 1/4 cup Grade B maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips or dark chocolate chunks
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 325u0b0. Spread the almonds and cashews on a cookie sheet and toast them in the oven for 6 - 8 minutes, or until they start to brown a bit. Remove from oven and let cool.
2. In the meantime, grease a 9 x 13 baking dish with the butter and set aside. Now, mix the oats, rice cereal, banana chips and chocolate chunks in a big bowl. Add the nuts once they've cooled.
3. In a small saucepan, heat the syrups, salt and vanilla extract over medium-high heat, stirring to avoid burning. Once the syrups come to a light boil, continue to cook for an additional 3 - 5 minutes until the syrup begins to thicken, then pour it over the oats and nuts. Mix everything together so that the syrup evenly coats everything in the bowl. Your chocolate chunks may melt at this point, but that doesn't matter - it'll just spread the chocolate-y love throughout.
4. While it's still warm, pour the contents of the bowl into your prepared baking dish. Using a rubber spatula, pat everything down so it's nice and compacted. Let cool to room temperature. You can also put them in the fridge for a bit since this'll make cutting easier.
5. Cut them into square or rectangles as you please.

butter, almonds, cashews, banana chips, rolled oats, brown rice crisp, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, salt, chocolate chips, vanilla extract

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/banana-chocolate-granola-bars-1273120 (may not work)