Making healthy granola bars!

I've wanted for a long time to get a good recipe to make healthy granola bars. I will pay up to 4.50 per box of 6 for healthy granola bars and I know this is WAY too much to spend on these things! But they are so handy to just grab and run out the door with for an on the go snack. I always need a snack when I go out and so do the kids! So I finally got the initiative to look on the Internet for a good recipe for these things. I just typed in google search "recipe for healthy chewy granola bars" and here is the recipe that I found:

Ingredients
2 cups rolled oats (old-fashioned)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or stoneground spelt flour)
1 cup wheat germ
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon, ground
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
1/2 cup oil (neutral flavor like sunflower)
1/2 cup honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons blackstrap molasses (optional)
1 cup sugar-free applesauce, thick
Directions
1Preheat oven to 350°F.
2Toast oats for 5 minutes in a dry skillet over medium heat. Let cool.
3In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients (including oats) and whisk together until well combined.
4In a separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients until well blended.
5Add wet mixture to dry ingredients and blend gently until well moistened. Add any of the suggested additions now (see Step 8). Mixture should be moist but not too wet. If it seems too dry and crumbly, add a little more applesauce (by the spoonful).
6Line a 9in x 13in pan with parchment paper and press mixture into pan.
7Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. Cut into bars while warm, but let cool completely before removing from pan.
8Suggested additions (add up to 2 cups of any of the following): chocolate chips, raisins (soaked in hot water for 10 minutes then drained), unsweetened shredded coconut, sunflower seeds (unsalted), pumpkin seeds (unsalted), dried fruit (like chopped apricots, cranberries), chopped toasted nuts.

I omitted the molasses (Because I didn't have any), I doubled the recipe and made 2 9X13 pan fulls (made a total of 42 bars), I omitted the oil and substituted natural crunchy peanut butter and I added 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Here's a look at my granola bar making adventure! (it probably took a total of 2 hours spread out through the day as I had to break up the cooking time when I realized I didn't have parchment paper and had to wait for Steve to pick it up from the store on his way home!

I didn't have any old fashioned oats so I pulled out my

oat roller and rolled the oats fresh. This is healthier as

the oats retain all their antioxidants if used

immediately.

The recipe calls for pastry flour. I used freshly ground

soft wheat.

Andrew is watching the flax seed being ground in the

blender. When eating flax seeds you always want to grind

them up first in your blender. If not they will pass right

through your system undigested.


Here is Micah helping toast the oats...

Mixing...this wasn't easy. The mixture

was very very very thick! But of

course Andrew kept saying,

"Me do it! Me do it!" So cute!

Here is the mixture pressed into the pan on top of the

parchment paper. I kept spraying my spoon with

non-stick cooking spray to help me press the mixture

into the pan.


Here they are after being baked...

The boys happily eating them! Andrew at first pushed

them away but then he ate them! I was so glad because

these are so healthy and I want everyone to like them!

Micah of course immediately liked them as he has

literally a taste for healthy things. He prefers them. He

has been eating things like salad happily since he was two

years old. You should see him eat a raw tomato...he is

in heaven!

Steve ate one and he thought it was "edible". Steve does

not have a taste for healthy things but he will eat health

foods just he know they are good

for him. I like them fine. They definitely have that

healthy taste but I like that!

Now I just hope they are freezable because I sure did

make a lot!