Easy Cooking Recipes: Easy mix-and-match granola bars

We do a lot of eating on the go and we try to stock up on car snacks so we can skip fast food stops. Granola bars are a favorite, but the good ones (all natural and relatively healthy) tend to be pretty expensive when youre feeding 6 people. Add a peanut allergy in there and its very hard to find anything that works for our family.

Heres a recipe my wife adapted from one she found online. It's been tweaked to make it healthier, and it's completely flexible so you can use whatever is in your cupboard or whatever youre in the mood for! Best of all, theres no baking and its super quick to whip up!

Alicias Easy Mix-and-Match Granola Bars

Ingredients:

4 cups quick cooking oats
3 cups dry cereal
2 cups dried fruit
1 cup nuts or seeds
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup honey
1 cup sunbutter, soy nut butter or peanut butter
2 tsp real vanilla

Grease and set aside a 913 or 1014 inch baking pan.
In a very large bowl, stir together the oats, cereal, fruit and nuts.
Heat the brown sugar and honey in a pan over medium heat, stirring often, just until boiling. Remove from heat and stir in the nut butter and vanilla.
Pour the hot mixture over the dry mixture and mix well. (If you are adding in chocolate chips, allow the mixture to cool slightly so they do not melt.)
Press very firmly into the prepared pan (wetting your hands can help a bit). Allow to cool and cut into bars.

We wrap these in aluminum foil for on-the-go snacks. They can be kept at room temperature or refrigerated. They are slightly sticky and soft at room temperature.

Makes about 20 full sized bars or 30 smaller bars

These can easily be made gluten-free as well. Some people on a gluten-free diet can tolerate oats while others can't. Make sure to use certified gluten-free oats or substitute seeds, GF cereals, nuts, etc.

Good dry cereal choices are rice crispies, cheerios and corn flakes. Rice crispies are perfect but anything crunchy will do.

Dried fruit options include raisins, cranberries, blueberries, cherries, pineapple, etc. Diced prunes are surprisingly sweet and delicious but theyre rather sticky. I dust them with powdered sugar to chop them so they dont make a sticky mass. You can also add ingredients like coconut and chocolate chips. Our favorite mix so far is chopped prunes, tart cherries, coconut and some whitechocolate chips. You can also do themes like tropical with coconut, papaya, pineapple...

Any nuts or seeds will do. These contribute protein, texture and a bigger health punch. Options include sunflower seeds, chopped almonds, pecans, sesame seeds, flax seeds.

You can find anything you need at the Wedge Community Co-op at 2105 Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis. Enjoy!

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