Homemade Granola Bars

Granola bars are a must have snack item in my house because they are filling and nutritious. My husband takes them to work, I eat them as an afternoon snack, and we sometimes have one as dessert. Store bought bars are not a healthy snack and very expensive. Four to five dollars for a box of six is not in my budget and definitely not in my natural living mindset. 

Store bought bars are packed with artificial flavors, sugars, colors, and preservatives. Many people think they are healthy snack, but after reading the back of the box, you learn they are not. 

Homemade granola bars are made with real fruits, oats, and just about whatever you want to mix in.  They also can be made vegan by switching one ingredient without compromising flavor, nutrition, or needing a special vegan item. Most importantly, as with any homemade food, you know exactly what you are putting into your body. 

One of the reasons why I love making granola bars is because of the simplicity.  You mix your chosen ingredients in a bowl then spread on a plate and let it bake in the oven. They are easy to freeze or store in an airtight bin. Total time (including baking) its 30 minutes. It only takes 10 minutes or less to mix all the ingredients together, a few minutes to cut them into pieces, and the rest of the time the oven does the work.  Clean up is easy - just wash the mixing bowl and utensils. The parchment paper serves as easy clean up and prevents the mix from sticking to the plate. 

The bases of homemade granola bars are oats and a sticky food to keep everything held together. Your options are endless as to how you make these. They can be salty, sweet, or both! You can split the batch up to make several different kinds at once or a different batch each time. 

To make these: 

You will need:

Cooking oats, old fashioned oats (or rolled oats), chopped almonds, dried cranberries, raisins, wheat germs, condensed sweetened milk*, and sunflower seeds. I also added fresh peanut butter (not pictured).

Utensils: Mixing bowl, 1/2 cup and 1 cup measuring tool, mixing spoon, and an oven safe plate with parchment paper.

Here is how:

Mix 2 cups cooking oats and 1 cup old fashion oats in a bowl

Add 1/2 cup chopped almonds

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup wheat germ

 1/2 cup sunflower seeds

14 oz. condensed sweetened milk* 

1/2 cup peanut butter

Mix everything together in the bowl then spread on a baking sheet 

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 20-25 minutes

And waalaa! Your very own granola bars! 

To make them soft bake for a slightly less time or for firmer bars let them bake for the full 25 or 30 min. 

Let the granola bars cool to reach its full firmness. Remove the parchment paper from the oven plate to let cool. They will be soft to touch, but will hardened up when cooled. 

These are mainly for my husband so I use the condensed milk but to make them vegan you can use agave or honey (pending your vegan commitment) or peanut butter. You can use anything that is naturally sticky to keep the ingredients together. 

To cut into pieces use a knife to split the mix in half then cut bars up and down. This batch generated 25 bars. 

To store place bars in an air tight bin or place individual pieces in a snack bag and freeze. Take out the night before or morning of to let thaw. 

My husband's favorite Jam Granola Bars:

Fill baking plate with 70% of the mix. Spread an even layer of homemade jam (check back for recipe) then add remaining mix to cover jam.  The final product is a soft and sweet granola bar.

To calculate calories per bar: add the calorie amount of each item then divide by total number of bars. 

Eco friendly tip: Clean the parchment paper with a clean wet rag, let dry, and then store to reuse next time. 

Fun ideas: Drizzle chocolate or caramel over the baked batch before cutting, add chocolate or caramel chips, dip one side of bar into chocolate, use homemade dried fruits, serve hot under homemade ice cream, spread peanut butter on one side of the bar ... and many more fun healthy ideas!

*A few months ago I donated all of my canned foods in exchange for natural foods. In addition to the nutritional reasons, I am also concerned with BPA and aluminum contamination from eating foods stored in a can.  I am currently looking for condensed milk in a tube, but until them I am okay with using this product from a can. I believe that to live a healthy lifestyle you do what you can and are comfortable with and do not stress the rest. 

Let me know what yummy foods you mixed to make your granola bars!