Granola Bars

Here it is! The recipe people are asking for these days from me. One of my girlfriends stumbled upon a wholesome, natural recipe for granola bars and we have been tweaking it since then. Karl loves these things! On his early days, he grabs a cup of coffee and two of these to hold him over till he has time for something else. With is long commute and being prepared for the meetings, that can be a long time!

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup wheat germ

1 cup all-purpose flour

optional ingredients

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup honey

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup vegetable or nut oil

2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F for crunchy or 325 degrees F for Chewy. Generously grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

2. In a large bowl mix all dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl mix all wet ingredients then add to the dry ingredients. Press evenly into baking pan.

3. Bake for 30 minutes for crunchy, 35 -45 minutes for chewier until bars turn golden brown on the edges. Cool for 5 minutes then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting or they will be too hard to cut.

Optional ingredients:

3/4 - 1 cup of the following: nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chips, etc.

1/2 cup nut butter - decrease oil in recipe to 1/4 cup, however keeping it to 1/2 cup will make the bars more cookie in texture.

Favorite combinations we have tried:

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon and 3/4 cup raisins;

1/2 cup nut butter and 3/4 - 1 cup chocolate chips;

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips and 3/4 cup chopped walnuts with walnut oil sometimes with 1/2 tsp of cinnamon.