Homemade granola bars

I discovered a great granola bar recipe! It's not hard like some granola bars are.

GRANOLA BARS

• 4 c. oatmeal
• 2 c. flour
• 1 c. coconut (use 1 c. extra oats and omit this if someone can't have tree nuts due to allergies)
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 c. vegetable or canola oil
• 3/4 c. honey (OR 1/2 c. honey & 1/4 c. molasses OR 1/2 c. honey & 1/4 c. light corn syrup)
• raisins, chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, dried fruit pieces, chopped nuts...whatever you'd like to add.

Mix dry ingredients well. Add oil and honey. Mix well. Get your fingers in there and mix it until all is blended and slightly sticky. Add raisins or whatever you like. Press firmly into greased jelly roll plan (12 x 15 or close to that.) Bake 15 to 20 minutes at 375°. They will look puffy and soft when you take them out. Do not let them turn brown or they will be very hard. Cut into squares/rectangles while still warm.




I used the honey/corn syrup mixture because I ran out of honey. I added 1 c. raisins, 1 c. chocolate chips, and about 3/4 c. sunflower seeds.




It turned out that 375° was too hot for my granola bars. I'm not sure if it's my oven, but the bars were done at about 10 minutes instead of 15, and the undersides of the bars in one corner were slightly burned. I'm going to try 350° next time.




My kids (and husband) LOVED these!