Crispy Granola Bars

When we moved here five years ago (and when I first started really interacting with other moms) my first child was 9 months old and just learning to love finger foods.  Everything anyone else was eating, he wanted too. 

We loved sharing with our friends.  But at playgroups I always got sermons preceding anything any other mom gave my child.  They included things like, "this is 100% organic" or "this is made with all-natural ingredients" or "there are only 5 items on the ingredients list for this" or "this doesn't have any preservatives" or, or, or...

I felt a little intimidated!  I was really honored when one of my new friends invited me to go to Trader Joe's to shop with her, but (besides not knowing at first what it was) it just wasn't in my budget to shop there.  So I learned to improvise.  I was fine serving my kid graham crackers and cheerios, but if I wanted to be able to pass things out and share at playgroup, I had to step things up a notch.  So I started making things homemade.

I've made homemade graham crackers, cheese crackers, wheat crackers, pretzels, and many different types of granola bars.  Some recipes are worth the extra effort.  Some aren't.  This one is a winner because it's pretty quick, and it's also pretty versatile. 

And now that I've learned how easy some of these things are to make, I'm glad to serve them to my kids (four of them now!) more often, while keeping things a little healthier.

Start by combining the dry ingredients in a bowl.  You can change it up however you like, even to make them gluten free or to address other diet concerns.  Just keep the amounts for similar types of things the same.  In this recipe, I'm using a combination of oats, whole wheat flour, wheat germ, and brown rice cereal.  I've done GF oats, brown rice flour and GF brown rice cereal.  You could switch the amounts and include shredded coconut, flax seed meal, or other yummy additions.  Substitute dried fruit, nuts or other flavored chips for the chocolate.  Just try not to change the measurements on types of ingredients (mostly the texture) too much.



Then combine the wet ingredients and pour it into the dries.  You can vary things here, too, if you want, and use softened butter instead of oil or substitute a little peanut butter for oil.

Mix well.  Little hands are good for this.

Pour into a prepared pan.  I doubled the recipe, so I'm pouring it onto a jellyroll pan lined with parchment paper.  You could do the same and line it with a silpat liner.  Or you could just grease it.  For a single recipe, use a 9x13 inch pan greased or lined with parchment paper or greased foil, or form your own rectangle on a large pan.  Whatever you do, just make it easy to remove!

Press it together nicely so it holds its shape after baking.

Bake in preheated oven until the edges start to get toasty.

Don't wait for the whole thing to get toasted like I did.  It tastes good, but it's nearly impossible to cut.

Also, only wait about 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cut.  Otherwise, it'll make a big crumbly mess.  (If you do get distracted on one or all of these steps and end up with extra-toasted, crumbly granola, it's a really delicious cereal!)  Allow to cool completely before serving.

Crispy Granola Bars

4 cups old fashioned rolled oatmeal
1 cup crispy rice cereal
1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla

Combine dry ingredients in large mixing bowl.  Combine wet ingredients in glass measuring cup then pour over dry ingredients.  Mix well.  Press into 9x13 inch pan, greased well or lined with parchment paper or greased foil.  Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly browned on the edges.  Let cool 10 minutes before cutting into bars.  Let cool completely before serving.