Crunchy Granola Bars

I have been making these when granola bars aren’t cheap at the grocery store. It’s a little time consuming, but surprisingly easy. I feel good knowing they are full of real food instead of high fructose corn syrup. Here is the base recipe with some variations down at the bottom.

Crunchy Granola Bars

-6 C. rolled oats (I have used quick and old fashioned- both work fine)
-1/4 C. whole wheat flour
-1/2 C. brown sugar
3/4 C. coconut oil (any other oil will work fine)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 C. honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix the oats, flour and sugar together. In another bowl mix the coconut oil, vanilla and honey. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Pour mixture onto the sheet and roll flat with a rolling pin (or bottle if you are cheap like me and don’t have a rolling pin). Bake for 40 minutes. Once you take them out of the oven you should immediately use a knife to cut them into bars. Let them continue to cool, the bars will harden as they cool.

Variations

-add 1/2 C. of chocolate chips or your favorite nut. I like to add 1/2 C. of chocolate chips and a 1/4 cup of slivered almonds.
-melt 1/2 C. of peanut butter or cookie butter in the microwave for 30 seconds. Toss the oats in the melted butter before adding the sugar and flour. Decrease cooking time by 5 minutes.
-be creative! Add whatever you want!

Each batch makes about 24 bars