Our homemade granola bar recipe / My Favorite Things Giveaway WINNER
Yesterday Erin asked me what recipe I used for my homemade granola bars. I looked through my recipe archive, ready to send her a link, then realized, even though I talked about them, I never posted the recipe!
So, with Steven’s permission (since he developed the recipe), I’ve posted the recipe below! Please note, these are chewy, and dense. They won’t sit in your stomach like a rock, but they are not light and airy.
Ingredients:
- 2 c. oats
- 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
- 1/4 c. wheat germ or wheat bran
- 1/4 c. milled flaxseed
- 1/4 – 1/3 c. sweetener (honey, imitation honey, agave nectar, molasses)
- 1/2 c. + apple sauce
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 c. raisins or whatever dried fruit/nuts you like (I used raisins and dates in these)
Directions:
- Heat oven to 350°F, grease bottoms of two (2) 8.5″x4.5″ loaf pans very well (you can use metal or glass loaf pans, really, any size you want – it just determines the thickness of the bars).
- Mix all dry ingredients, add in all wet ingredients. Cut up dried fruit/nuts to small sizes and add in. The mixture should mostly stick together, but add more applesauce if it is super crumbly.
- Divide half of mixture into each loaf pan and smooth down with a spatula.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes.
- Let cool in the pan. Tip them out upside down onto a cooling rack, let cool a bit more then cut into whatever size you want on a cutting board.
This is a photo of Steven’s bars from last year. I just wanted to show them to you in the pan. His look a bit different because he uses different ingredients (puffed rice, baking soda and powder).
Easy, right?
I like to store them in a container, then put them in a plastic bag when I want to take one to work. That way I can reuse the same bag over and over. Another option is to individually wrap each in saran wrap. These granola bars last about 1.5 – 2 weeks.
Do you make homemade granola bars?
Since I am talking about food, I might as well tell you that I added pearled barley to my oatmeal this weekend (after cooking for 45 minutes, of course) and LOVED it! Yum! I love how chewy it is. Any other ideas for things I can do with barley? We also have some couscous to use. Any favorite couscous recipes? Erin already recommended this one, which I cannot wait to try!
Half eaten oatmeal with barley, milled flaxseed and brown sugar.
Okay, and since I am still talking about food, check out these two pizzas we made last night. Yes, two.
One SUPER thick one and one SUPER thin one. Muah ha ha.
Would you want a piece of the SUPER thick pizza or the SUPER thin pizza?
Thank you for all of your entries on the My Favorite Things Giveaway! I had fun reading what you would put in your hypothetical giveaway!
And now, for the big weiner winner…
I used a handy-dandy holiday box my sister gave me for the drawing….
Steven did the honors and…
The winner is Lynn from The Actor’s Diet! Lynn said:
my list would include 18 rabbits granola bars, justin’s maple almond butter, peanut ginger chews, tootsie pops, sunshine burgers, and newman’s own’s ginger hermits
Damn, I have been wanting to try those 18 Rabbits Granola Bars!
Congrats, Lynn! Send me your mailing address and I will skip the goodies your way!
And to everyone else, thanks for entering, and please continue to do so! I have some other giveaway ideas!
Themocracy
Ahhh, your granola bar recipe (Okay, Steven’s) looks great. (Though, where do I find flax?) Most of the ones I’ve seen are so complicated, with 2983403289 hard-to-find ingredients. I’m super-pumped to try it!
And what to do with barley? When I go to Korean restaurants, I always drink the barley tea. From what I can tell, they just boil and strain out handfuls of barley in hot water…It kind of tastes like popcorn-flavored water. Apparently, I liked it as a baby?
You can get milled flaxseed at (gasp!) Walmart in the baking asile. They sell a box of it for about $2 or less. I like to mix it in with oatmeal too. If you don’t feel like using that, you can use wheat germ/bran instead.
Now I am curious about barley tea! 🙂
Congrats, Lynn!!! What a great giveaway to win!
WOW those granola bars look AMAZING!!!
I think Lynn is a very deserving winner because her giveaway ideas sound so tasty!
And, wow, I would never have thought of making my own granola bars but that actually sounds pretty easy.
So made those granola bars (put a little cinnamon in there since I used dried apples) and they were yummy! I also made a chocolate chip version (yep I know not as healthy) for a dessert type of bar and it turned out ok (going to have to tweak a bit)!
Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
I love barley, but it never occurred to me before to add them to oatmeal! I must try that. My favorite use for barley is probably mushroom barley soup, though.
The granola bars look great; I love that they don’t have a zillion crazy ingredients!
<3 <3
Congrats Lyn! I have never made homemade granola bars before, even though I know it is more economical than buying larabars and purebars i still havent dont it.
Congrats to Lynn 🙂
I love making my own granola bars. They’re so much cheaper, you can customize them, and they usually taste better. (I sound like an infomercial now)
I would have gone for the thin crust! It’s all about the toppings
Lucky Lynn! I am jealous!
Thank you for the granola bar recipe. I have been thinking of making them for Ali and Maya and these look like I could even handle them! I have made granola in the past but never the bars!
I am almost always a thick-crust person all the way – but now that cheese is out of the picture I find I’m enjoying thin crust pizza a lot more. Weird, I know 🙂
I love the idea of homemade granola bars. Yours look really good. Since Dan and I recently quit the Jenny (more on that later), we will be ramping up our cooking at home. I wouldn’t be surprised if we try your recipe (though, mine would definitely include some peanut butter and chocolate in the recipe – heh).
Ooo, is there going to be a JC tell-all? I hope you left as happy customers!
Yum, I have to try this. I love granola bars in the morning!
You were a busy lady this weekend. Your pizza looks great… did you use vegan cheese or did you make cheese-less pizza?
Steven’s half had mozzarella and my half had no cheese 🙂
And there is one more thing I made this weekend that I will post on Thursday! 🙂
yum! thanks for the recipe! love all the pictures, too.
i think i will be indecisive and go for one of both! 🙂
Thank you so much for the recipe! I’ve only made granola bars once and they turned out quite awful.
OMG OMG OMG!!! yay! will email you now!
congrats to the winner! nice granola bars, looks like an easy recipe and they turn out beautifully! i’ll have to make some. i bet you can’t go back to quaker chewy bars once you’ve had the homemade real deal! btw just noticed you live in the suburbs of chicago…do you know where hinsdale is? a lot of my family lives there!
I sure do know where Hinsdale is! A few of my coworkers live right by there! 🙂 I am NW of there.
Oh my gosh, those pizzas look SO GOOD, as do the granola bars. Yum! I’m impressed!
I’m so glad Lynn won. She’s very sweet 🙂
Yum yum – delicious looking eats! I just had dinner and still you got my drooling!
oooh those pizzas look DELICIOUS!!
Those granola bars look so good… The recipe is so simple! I’ll definitely have to try those 🙂
Does Lynn get Data, too? : ) The granola bars look great! My compliments to the chef!
Only YOU will ever get Data! (Okay, you or Courtney – I will write it in my will Data must go to his Aunt Gina and cousin Manny or Aunt Courntey and cousins Manny and Murphy 😉 )
I WANT to be the kind of person who makes my own granola bars because it would make me feel so fancy and special BUT I bought two boxes of Kashi granola bars yesterday…
I have never made granola bars. But that looks so easy. I’m going to save this recipe. Thanks!
Hey Friend!! Those pizzas look lovely. Lucky Lynn!!! She deserves a good win. And you’re right, our method to deal with being overwhelmed does nothing but make things worse. One day I’ll accept this!
I’m going to have to try those granola bars- looks YUM.
I am so hungry! Those granola bar would be perfect with my afternoon tea … and that pizza (both) would be perfect right now!
Congrats Lynn!
That recipe looks great. We have been unsuccessfully plowing through granola bar recipes (okay, I’ve actually only tried two) and we haven’t had any luck so I’m excited to try this.
Those pizzas both look so fantastic that I would have to try a slice of both. I’m not sure which is more appealing but since I love the crust I would probably have to go with the thick one.
Those granola bars look amazing and I would definitely make them if I wasn’t stuck in such a cooking rut at the moment.
those granola bars look scrumptious! and better than quaker or generic ones!
thank you so much-i’m glad i make you laugh and aparently i seem awesome despite i’m a TOTAL NERD! =D
Ive been wanting to make granola bars! My brother made them back when we still lived at home and they looked SO good. Of course, he wont talk to me so I couldnt get his recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the recipe! I think I know what I’ll be doing on Sunday 🙂
Your pizzas also look soooo good. If we ever have you over for dinner I was going to do homemade pizzas, but I don’t think ours would ever compare with yours!
Thanks for the recipe! I have been wanting to make my own bars for a while now. I think I would go for the thin piece. They both look good though 🙂
YUM! I have always wanted to make granola bars, I just didn’t know how. I will have to try it out and let you know! 🙂
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Thanks for posting this GREAT recipe! I have been looking for a recipe that did not call for that much sugar (honey, brown sugar, nectar, etc.) and this seems to be the one. I also like how Steven used the apple sauce and not oil. What a great idea! I never would have thought of that one. Keep up the good work. 🙂