Homemade Granola Bars

It would be a disservice to society to keep this granola bar recipe to myself. It's adapted from a recipe my friend, Jayme, gave me (I would link to the original to give her credit, but I can't find it) and they are so good and pretty good for you. I was looking for some good snacks for my boys that don't involve packaging of any kind. Without further ado:

Cherry Almond Coconut Chocolate Granola Bars

2 c. old fashioned oats
3/4 c. wheat germ
1 cup crushed almonds
2/3 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. honey
1/4 c. coconut oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 t. almond extract
1/2 t. salt
2/3 c. dried cherries, chopped
1/3 c. shredded coconut
1/2 c. dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

I start out with whole almonds and crush them with my hand blender. Mix oats, almonds and wheat germ on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast them in the oven for about 12 minutes, stirring every 4 minutes or so to keep wheat germ from burning.

Meanwhile prepare an 11x13 glass baking dish by lining with waxed paper and lightly spraying with cooking spray.

Remove oat mixture from oven and let cool. Turn off oven.

In a medium sauce pan, combine brown sugar, honey, coconut oil, vanilla, almond extract and salt over medium high heat. Bring to a rolling boil and stir constantly for about 30 seconds. Remove from heat (if you over do the boiling the granola bars will be hard, not chewy).

Put the oat mixture in a large bowl and add coconut and dried fruit, then mix in the partially cooled caramel sauce. Mix everything really well, ensuring you coat all the oats with the caramel sauce since that's what will hold your bars together. Add the chocolate chips and mix lightly (they will begin to melt--trying to figure out how to do this without them melting too much).

Spread out the mixture into the prepared pan. Put another layer of waxed paper on the top and press down HARD all over the granola. You want to compact it together so your bars won't fall apart when you cut them.

Remove waxed paper and let cool for an hour or two. Pull them out of the pan with the waxed paper. Cut into 10 columns, 2 rows = 20 bars. Enjoy!!

You can also substitute different nuts and dried fruits (I've tried pecans, apricots, dried blueberries and cranberries), or omit almond extract and coconut, try something else instead of chocolate. You get the idea--the possibilities are endless.

More on that cauliflower, caramelized onion tart coming...you're right, Cathy--how did that tart manage to start off our referral day? Ridiculous!!