Granola Bars

In our home, granola bars and bananas make frequent appearances as diaper-bag-emergency-snacks. Granola bar are such an easy snack so it's not surprising that they are so lucrative. Think of all the granola bars options at the grocery. Just between Nutrigrain and Quaker there must be well over twenty varieties. The options are dizzying and so are all the additives and not so healthy ingredients.

But finding a good granola bar recipe can be a challenge too. Some recipes are seriously lacking while others are plain unhealthy. Here is a granola bar recipe that was slightly adapted from the granola bar recipe in Flour on pages 154 to 156. These bars are delicious and mostly healthy (just ignore the cup of butter in them).

Granola Bars
Adapted from Flour by Joanne Chang

Granola Jam*
1 cup dried dates
1 cup dried apricots
1 cup dried cranberries
2 cups water

* You can use a combination of any dried fruit. The original recipe called for 1 cup dried apples instead of the dates.

1 cup walnuts halves

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats ( not quick or instant)
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup butter, unsalted, at room temperature, cut into pieces
6 Tbsp. honey

3 Tbsp. flaxseed
3 Tbsp. sunflower seeds
3 Tbsp. millet

1} Make the granola jam. Add the dried fruit and water in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once at a boil, cover the saucepan with a lid and remove it from the burner. Let it sit for about 1 hour. When cooled, pulse the mixture in a food processor until it is thick and chunky. Set aside.

2} Preheat the oven to 350F. Toast the walnuts by spreading them of a baking sheet and putting them in the oven until slightly browned and fragrant, 5-10 minutes, depending on you oven. When cooled, crush into smaller pieces using hands.

3} Leave the oven on a 350F and line a 9 by 13 inch pan with parchment paper.

4} In a food processor, add flour, oats, brown sugar, coconut, salt, cinnamon, and butter. Pulse the mixture until it is evenly combined (15-20 pulses).

5} Put the mixture in a bowl and drizzle the honey on top. Mix it together with hands until it comes together.

6} Press about 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until it is light brown. Take the remaining mixture and put it in the fridge.

7} When the crust is done, spread the jam mixture on top.

8} Take the extra crumb mixture from the fridge and add the walnuts, flaxseeds, sunflower seeds and millet. Break up the mixture and then spread it evenly over the jam.

9} Return the pan to the oven and bake for 45-60 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before slicing into bars.

If you have a favorite granola bar recipe please feel free to link-up to it below!