Chewy Granola Bars

Cindy H.

Ingredients
•2 cups rolled oats
•3/4 cup packed brown sugar
•1/2 cup wheat germ
•3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
•1 cup all-purpose flour (any kind)
•3/4 cup raisins (optional) ***See Note
•3/4 teaspoon salt
•1/2 cup honey
•1 egg, beaten
•1/2 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
•2 teaspoons vanilla extract (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, raisins and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut.

When it comes to granola, what you’re looking for is a basic proportion of chunky (nuts, dried fruit) to sticky (syrups, sugar, butter or oils) and from there, you can really go to town. The vanilla is optional. The cinnamon is optional. You can use no dried fruit or you can use all dried fruit in your mix. You can toss in things like puffed rice cereal or cheerios. You can sub some of the oil with applesauce. Basically you can do whatever you want!

*Possible Suggestions: Dried cranberries, apricots, cherries, blueberries, prunes, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, pretzels, coconut, walnuts, almonds, pecans, sesame seeds, flax seeds (whole or ground), mini chocolate chips, couple of TBSP Peanut Butter, etc.