Homemade Granola Bars

I first saw the process of making homemade granola bars on Food Network one morning while making breakfast myself. Throughout my time eating more clean and maintaining a healthier lifestyle, I've learned that a lot of products we see on our shelves that claim that they are healthy and nutritious, are in fact not. What's hidden in the label is what goes unnoticed by the eye and also because those quick eat items seem like a good idea for when you're on the run.

I really have to owe the original idea and recipe to Food Network for this post, so here's the link to that recipe for Lolla Granola's original granola bar. These snack bars are seriously so easy to make and again, like everything else I've made and shared with you all thus far, they are easy to make your own! Use your favorite ingredients and you'll love this basic recipe so much more.

Add your old-fashioned rolled oats, raw almonds slivers, sunflower seeds, flaxseed meal, cinnamon and whatnot into a bowl and stir them together and pour them out on a dry sheet tray as pictured above. Toast these dry ingredients in the over for about 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees, keep a watchful eye as it may take a different amount of time for the cooking time. 

In the 10-15 minutes that those dry ingredients are toasting, we're going to add 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, a 1/2 cup of honey, and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla. We're going to boil this mixture at a medium heat for about 10 minutes and set aside so we can grab that toasty mixture. 

Unfortunately I don't have a Vine video or a picture of this next process, but we're going to pour that toasty mixture into a big bowl and then pour out our honey liquid slowly into the granola, folding the toasty mixture every morsel is covered. And then, after everything is folded together and covered in the honey, the mix is transferred in a loaf pan that is lined with parchment paper beforehand. Covering the top with a piece of parchment, you press down hard so that the mix is pressed firmly together and flattened (so that it won't fall apart when the mixture is set and ready to cut). After this mixture cools down a bit, stick the loaf pan in the fridge so that it can set. 

After the mix has been in the fridge and cooled down, here it is! Ready for cutting and then to fall in love with. Incredibly healthy for you and such a versatile recipe to just make in a kitchen that's stocked with all these healthy ingredients. These ingredients were things that I had in my kitchen. It's great to have all these counterparts handy like the organic rolled oats, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds. I can't wait to gather more ingredients to put into my granola bars. Next up- pistachios and dark chocolate?!

Ingredients:

Cooking Spray

2 cups of rolled oats

1/3 cup of sunflower seeds

1/4 cup of raw almonds

1/4 cup flaxseed meal

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup honey

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup dried cranberries