Michelle,S Granola Bars
- 2 cups oats
- A3/4 cup wheat germ
- A3/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 1 cup peanuts, crushed
- ancup brown sugar
- A1/2 cup honey
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- A1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- approximately 8 oz. dried fruit
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place peanuts in a plastic bag and smash them with a heavy
- mallet, measuring cup, or sauce pan.
- 2.
- Mix the peanuts, oats, wheat germ, and sunflower seeds in a baking dish
- and toast them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
- 3.
- Prepare a glass baking dish (about 11 x 13 inches) for your granola,
- lining it with parchment paper.
- 4.
- Put the brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla, and salt into a saucepan and bring to
- a simmer, stirring constantly.
- 5. Mix your toasted grains and nuts together in a
- large bowl with the sugar mixture and the dried fruit.
- 6.
- Mix REALLY WELL to make sure it is completely coated.
- Put granola mixture into your prepared baking dish.
- 7.
- Spread mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula. Fold over the sides
- of the parchment paper or add a sheet on top, and PRESS HARD all over the
- granola. You want to compress it together so that your bars won't fall apart when
- you cut them.
- 8.
- 9. Wait 2-3 hours or until the granola has totally cooled.
- Then, open the paper and carefully turn the granola onto a large cutting board,
- peeling away the rest of the paper.
- 10.
- Firmly pressing down with a big knife (not sawing), cut your granola into
- whatever size bars you'd like.
- 11.
- You can wrap bars individually in plastic to keep them from sticking or store in an airtight container, between sheets of parchment paper.
- Notes
- Of course, you can mix up the recipe. I used peanuts because they're what we had,
- but next time I'm going to make the granola nutless at first, but during the
- pressing-down part, I plan to press almonds into the top of the bars.
- Another combo that would be fun to try is macadamia nuts, dried pineapple, and
- coconut flakes.
- Or try dried cranberries, walnuts, and white chocolate chips (just a few).
- I also plan to add flax seed to my granola mix.
- Different flavors of honey would also probably change the final outcome too. Mmm...
oats, germ, sunflower seeds, peanuts, brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla, kosher salt, dried fruit
Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/michelle-s-granola-bars-58386428 (may not work)