Granola Bars

Nature Valley Fruit and Nut granola bar on the left, Homemade granola bar on the right

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have a lukewarm feeling toward granola.  I know that it’s a healthy breakfast option, it’s fun to make and attractive to photograph, but I just don’t love how it tastes.  I realized the other day that despite my ambivalence about granola I do love it in one form:  granola bars.  Although I love granola bars I had never considered making them at home until a few days ago when my sister sent me the recipe printed below.  She has been playing around with the ingredients and proportions for these bars all week and tells me that they are very easy to adapt to your own liking.  After seeing this recipe, I couldn’t wait to try the homemade version of one of my favorite snacks so I went straight to the store and bought the fruit and nut variety of my favorite granola bars (Nature Valley) and some ingredients to make my own.  Now we have 2 dozen granola bars and the following results:

Homemade Granola Bars

Makes about 16 bars

The finished bars were not getting firm enough for me to cut, even after they were cooled and I ended up having to put them into the refrigerator before cutting them.  My sister didn’t have this problem in Colorado so it may have been the warm, humid climate here that caused the bars to stay soft.  If you live in a humid climate, I suggest cooling the bars in the refrigerator before cutting them and then storing them in the refrigerator until you eat them.

2 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1 cup roughly chopped nuts (I used a mixture of cashews and almonds)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

4 Tablespoons butter

1 cup dried fruit  (I used dried cherries)

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1.  In a medium bowl, toss together the oats, coconut and nuts.  Pour the oat mixture onto a large sheet pan and toast in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown, stirring every few minutes.

2.  Once the oat mixture is browned, pour it back into the original bowl.  Put the sugar, honey and butter in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, immediately remove from the heat once boiling.  Add the vanilla, salt, dried fruit and cinnamon to the honey mixture and then add everything to the bowl containing the oats.  Mix well until the oats are well coated with the honey mixture.

3.  Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with waxed or parchment paper and pour the oat mixture into the prepared pan.  Place another piece of waxed or parchment paper over the oats and press very firmly to compact the mixture.  Let cool completely and then cut into bars.

I have to admit right away that the homemade bars do take some time and effort to make.  Toasting the ingredients is a job that requires close attention and the pressing and cutting of the bars is kind of tricky.  That being said, were they worth the extra effort?  Four of four testers said yes.  We all agreed that the homemade bars were far superior in taste to the store bought and had a pleasant, chewy texture.  Toasting the ingredients at the beginning of the recipe makes a huge difference in taste by adding a depth of flavor and giving the nuts a little extra crunch.  The honey and brown sugar mixture gave the bars a rich sweetness that was definitely lacking in the store bought version.  The store bought bars were crunchier and a little drier than the homemade which might make them more portable since they would not crumble as easily.

Bottom Line: It would be hard to find a store bought granola bar with the same rich, caramely flavor of these homemade granola bars.  The depth of flavor made the extra time and effort worthwhile.  If, however, you are aiming for convenience and portability over flavor, the store bought bars were still pretty delicious.

Homemade Granola Bars                                          Nature Valley Granola Bars

Cost:  $4.15 (for half a dozen)                                  Cost:  $3.00 (for half a dozen)

Time:  1 hour                                                                  Time:  None