Homemade Granola Bars

These are made by baking flattened oats mixed with ingredients like honey, nuts, dates, raisins, dry fruits and occasionally rice. They are also mixed with dollops of yogurt, milk, honey, banana chunks and strawberries. Granola bars were made by Stanley Mason, who came up with the idea of compressing loose granola into rectangular and portable bars. They are popularly consumed as breakfast items.

Ingredients 

• 2 cups, rolled oats
• ½ cup, coconut (grated)
• ½ cup almonds (slivered)
• ⅓ cup, sunflower seeds
• ⅓ cup, honey
• ¼ cup, chocolate chips (semi-sweet variety)
• ¼ cup, brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons, butter (unsalted variety)
• 2 teaspoons, vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon, kosher salt

Procedure

Set your oven at a temperature of 350 °F. Now, layer a mixture of oats, sunflower seeds, and almonds evenly on a baking tray, and put it for baking into the preheated oven. The baking time must not exceed ten minutes. Make sure to stir the mixture every 2-3 minutes, to keep it from burning.

Blend the butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and kosher salt and pour it onto a heated cooking pan. Stir till the sugar dissolves. You need to do this on a medium flame and as soon as this concoction is ready, add the heated oats mixture to it and mix well, sprinkling coconut and chocolate chips from top.

Grease a 9x9" glass baking dish with butter. Reduce the temperature of the microwave to 300 °F immediately after you've taken out the oats. Finally, when you're ready with the mixture, pour it onto the baking dish and make an even layer of it. Take a flat bottomed tray and grease the bottom of it and then use it to press down on the layer. Place it into the oven for about 25 minutes. Take it out and let it cool. Cut out rectangular slices from this bar and wrap them with cling film.

(Tip: You may also add grounded flax, sesame seeds, and wheat germ to the oats before you start baking. Also, you may throw in nuts, raisins, and dried fruits to the sugar mixture after it is done.)

Ingredients

• 4 cups, rolled oats
• ⅔ cup, all-purpose flour
• 1 stick, butter
• ½ cup, honey
• ½ cup, applesauce
• 12 oz. Trail mix
• 2 cups, chocolate chips (semi-sweet variety)
• 1 teaspoon, baking soda
• 1 teaspoon, vanilla extract

Procedure

Preheat the microwave at 325 °F and grease a 9x13" glass baking dish with butter. Take a bowl, add all the ingredients to it and mix well with a spatula. Then, layer this mixture on the greased baking dish and compress with the greased bottom of a flat tray. Place it into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. After they have achieved a brown color, take them out and allow them to arrive at the room temperature. Finally, cut them into rectangular bars and wrap in cling film.