Blustery day in April - Homemade granola bars in my kitchen!

 Yesterday was an unexpected day at home.

YAY!!

And so...

Granola bars have been on my

"to try" list and so I tried.

 I kinda followed a recipe but

really you could say I just used a recipe

as a reference.

They taste yummy to me!

Here is what I did, after referencing the recipe.

3 cups whole oats

1/2 cup honey

3 Tbsp. maple syrup

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cup of a mixture of things I had in my cupboard:

sunflower seeds

chopped up figs

rasins

dried cherries

pumpkin seeds

I then toasted the oatmeal at 350 for 15 minutes

While it was toasting I heated the honey and maple syrup in the microwave

then added the cinnamon and vanilla

After the oatmeal was toasted I stirred in the honey mixture

and then added the fruit and nut mixture.

I then dumped it into a 8 x 8 pan lined with parchment paper

pressed it down and left it cool.

 Then I melted chocolate

(maybe a cup of chocolate chips)

and spread it on the cooled oatmeal in the pan.

After that set up

I flip the whole thing out and then

I cut it into bars and

melted more chocolate and

drizzled it over the bars!

Next time maybe I will add some peanut butter and chocolate chips.

I do think that that the chocolate on the

bottom helped them stay together.

I think they are tasty and I think they are kinda healthy!

Win. Win.

We call it granola...

This is one of our family favorites for breakfast.
We call it granola.

It is great with any fresh fruit

or just a handful of raisins or craisins.

And cold milk.

Or all of the above.

Its great with yogurt

or a crunchy ice cream topping.

Or just a handful of goodness for a snack.

Here is how I make it:

1 box cheerios
1 box rice krispies
1 box cornflakes
4 cups oatmeal

Here is where you can get creative and
make it to your family's liking.

You could add coconut
or sunflower seeds
or wheat germ
or another kind of cereal
or whatever you like.

I mix the dry ingredients together

and the amount of dry ingredients

equals about 42 cups.

so this is whatever combinations

of dry ingredients you want.

It is a large amount but

it always seems to be gone

before I know it.

the sauce:

1 1/4 cup honey

1 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup margarine

1/2 tsp. salt

Over medium heat,

heat until melted and combined,

stirring occasionally.

Pour sauce over dry mixture and stir.

Bake 45 min at 225*

Stirring every 15 mins.

Take it out of the oven and let it cool.

Stir it occasionally while cooling to

keep it from sticking.

Add raisins or craisins and

store in air tight containers.

Enjoy!  And call it what you like,

We call it granola.

I'm linking up to these parties. 

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