Baking Day

Yesterday Morning, the boys and I made some homemade granola and I decided to snap some shots to share on here with the recipe.  My flash batteries died and so some of the shots were blurry, my apologies in advanced.

Whole Grain Granola Bars

2 Cups steel cut Oatmeal
3/4 Cup Oat bran (or wheat germ)
3/4 Cup pumpkin seeds (or your choice)

2/3 Cup brown sugar
1/2 Cup plus 1 TB honey
5 TB real butter
1 tsp almond flavoring
1 tsp salt
1 snack pack of raisins
3/4 Cup chocolate chips
1 Cup mini marshmallows

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 400*

Place nuts and seeds in a ziploc baggie, air removed and gently crush them with a rolling pin or bottom of measuring cup.  When well crushed, add to baking pan along with your oats.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally to insure against burning.

Combine butter, sugar and honey in a saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a boil and then simmer, stirring often.  Remove from heat and add almond flavoring and salt.

Remove pan from the oven.

Prepare a greased rectangular baking pan.

In a large bowl combine toasted grains, raisins;  sauce from pan, mix well. Add chocolate chips and marshmallows, stir to combine.

Spread and press evenly into prepared baking pan.  Allow to cool well.  Cut into desired bar sizes.  I used a pizza wheel for easy cutting.  Each of us ate a bar right away, and I wrapped the rest and threw them in the freezer.

What I like about this recipe is you can pretty much use what you have on hand.  If you don't have one type of nut, seed, or fruit feel free to use another.