Homemade Granola Bars Recipe

Hello All,
We have another beautiful day with our cold front here in Texoma. I am so enjoying this weather. Yesterday we made homemade granola bars. I had several requests for the recipe so I decided to post it here so everyone can access it.

Homemade Granola Bars:

• 4 cups oatmeal
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup coconut (optional)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (I usually only use 1/4 tsp)
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup honey (OR 1/2 cup honey, 1/4 cup molasses , OR 1/2 cup honey, 1/4 cup corn syrup depending on your taste)
• raisins, chocolate chips, Craisins (or whatever you prefer to add)  

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Gather ingredients.

3. Mix all dry ingredients well in a medium sized bowl.

4. Add oil and honey and mix well...you will have to get your hands dirty. Mix with your fingers until it is all blended and sticky feeling. If you don't it will come out crumbly.

It should look like this when done mixing:

5. Press firmly into a jelly roll pan (baking pan with raised edge). Make sure you pack it very firmly. It will help keep bars together. (I like to spray my pan before putting granola in)

 6. Now into the oven for 15-20 minutes. They should look soft and puffy when you take them out. DO NOT wait until they are all brown or they will turn out very hard. I usually like to check at 10 minutes just in case. I usually never leave them in past 15.

7. Cut into squares while still warm. A pizza cutter works great.

I wrap them in parchment/wax paper and put them in a freezer bag. Then the family can grab one on their way out the door or I can pop one into their lunch boxes easily.

Enjoy! This is a very versatile recipe and you can add any thing you want. We used chocolate chips for this batch but I have used nothing extra, raisins, craisins, and nuts. They have all come out great.