Want Energy quick? Try This Quick and Easy Grab and Go Oat Bar.
My friend Susan Gray of Goodness Gray-cious Granola shared this recipe with me. She was a camp cook for years and ss one of the most creative and caring gal I know.
Not surprising that she would want to make things that are not only good, but good for you!
So grab a few ingredients that you most likely already have around the house and let’s whip up a batch.
RETRO GOODNESS GRANOLA BARS
Ingredients:
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 3/4 cup sliced almonds
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds
- 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1/2 cup flax seed meal or wheat germ
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- 3 Tbs butter
- 2/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
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- ½ cup chopped dried apricots
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup chopped pitted dates…or other dried fruit.
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Butter an 9 x12 baking dish and line with parchment paper.
- Toss the first five ingredients into a bowl to mix and then put on baking sheet (cookie sheet).
- Put into oven and bake for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Transfer mix back to large bowl.
- Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.
- In a small saucepan add next 6 ingredients.
- Cook over medium heat until boiling. Stir for one minute and then remove from heat.
- Pour over oat and coconut mixture in the bowl.
- Add dried fruit and continue mixing until evenly coated.
- Pour into prepared pan. Wet fingers and lightly press the mixture into pan. –Trust me on this..a lightly buttered spatula will not work so just go with it. Lightly wet fingers are the bomb.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.
- Cool before cutting into bars. Place in airtight container.
Quick Tip: I like to wrap up my bars in saran wrap or in parchment paper. If I am packing a special tin of them I will even tie a cotton string around them so they look like a little package. It doesn;t make them taste any better, but they are super cute!
Inspired by Susan Gray of Goodness Gray-cious Granola