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March 10, 2011

Fully Loaded Granola Bars

MINE

SNACKS!  It’s about the only thing I have time for this week. My schedule has been SUPER hectic and I’ve been running around like a CRAZY woman! With all this chaos, I can still hear my kitchen screaming, “STOP NEGLECTING ME, TRACY! Get in here and make something! You’ll feel better!”  You know what? My kitchen is right. I don’t have lots of time, but I need to make something that will take my mind off my TO-DO lists. Armed with a cup of coffee, I whipped up these FULLY LOADED granola bars this morning while Cooper ate his breakfast. I’d have to say that it was time well spent because they are AWESOME. I love the crunch of the oats & almonds and am digging the tang of the dried apricots! A few of them got a little crumbly, but I don’t mind. They’ll be making their way into a bowl of yogurt for my afternoon snack today.

fully loaded granola bars

If you don’t have a lot of time and you want to get your butt in the kitchen, make these! You’ll have 12 little bars to snack on throughout the week –or day if you’re a pig like me! A runny nose will be wiped, a granola bar will be eaten, an email will be sent, and another load of laundry will be going into the washer the second I finish this paragraph. But it’s all good because I have a nice big plate of chewy/crunchy granola bars to fuel me today.


And we’re off!

Melt the butter, honey & brown sugar in a large saucepan.

butter brown sugar honey

Gather the bar ingredients!

hello fun stuff

Put them all in a bowl and toss with the wheat germ.

wheat germing

Toss toss toss.

hand mixing

Now introduce the dry stuff to the butter/sugar mixture.

introduction

Mix well!

mixing

Plop the mixture in your parchment lined baking pan and spread it out evenly.

time to smoosh

Push it into the pan & bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

to the oven with you

Let it cool for at least a half hour. Now cut up the bars!

slicing

Check your watch.

fully loaded granola bars

That took no time at all, huh? Now get started with your dreaded TO-DO list!

Stop procrastinating! I’m really just directing that at me.

Fully Loaded Granola Bars

Makes 12

(recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine)

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 3/4 cup slivered almonds
  • 1/4 cup pepitas
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
  • 2 tablespoons wheat germ

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line an 8 inch baking pan with parchment paper and set aside. In a large saucepan, melt butter with honey and brown sugar. In a large bowl mix the oats, dried fruits & nuts with the wheat germ. Pour mixture into the butter/sugar mixture and stir thoroughly.

Press the granola mixture into your prepared baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. Let cool and cut into bars.

  • Heidi @ Food Doodles

    Yummy! I love all kinds of granola bars. I just can’t resist them. Love the apricots in yours, they look great 🙂

  • Megan

    These look like the perfect snack. Way better than my silly store-bought ones.

  • Jessica

    They’re so colorful! So are these chewy or crunchy? I see that you said the oats and almonds are crunchy, but I mean the bars as a whole. I love both kinds, but am just curious!

  • Katrina

    Homemade granola bars are the best. Great recipe! These look so yummy!

  • stephanie

    between these and the “luna bars” I am so making these this weekend! I am sure they are so much better for you! I might throw in some dried cherries in the granola bars. I DIE for dried cherries.

    • Brandi

      amazing recipe. i replaced the raisins for apple juice sweetened dried cherries and it’s amazing. didn’t let them cool long enough though and went i went to cut them they crumbled…but i’ll just use it for yogurt topping!

  • Tamizn

    Those look perfect and very yummy x x

  • Kathryn

    Trying this recipe today! Thanks for incorporating the handy-dandy “print recipe” function on your site. Makes it super convenient. My cooking binder has an ever-growing Sutterbean section. Yum!

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  • Joel

    Thanks for the inspiration. We eat Clif bars a lot. We like them, but this has inspired me to try and make my own energy snacks!

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    Granola bars…

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  • Rossella

    Hi Tracy, I just came across your blog and I am loving it! I’ve already printed a bunch of your lovely recipies 🙂 I was wondering, is the wheat germ necessary? I live in Italy and I don’t think I can find wheat germ here. I love granola bars and I’d love to be able to make my own bars!
    thanks

    • Tracy

      Ciao! I think the wheat germ helps bind it. Do you have access to ground flax seed? That might be a good alternative!

  • Grace

    I tried to make these bars last night and they wouldn’t hold together at all. That being said, this is the best granola I’ve ever made! This is kind of a win-win recipe because even if your bars don’t hold their shape, the end result is delicious granola. I did make a few substitutions that may have contributed to the crumbly result. I didn’t have wheat germ so I substituted flax seed meal, and only used 1 tablespoon (that may be the culprit). I also used maple syrup as I was out of honey. I don’t really know why my “bars” never held their form, but I highly recommend this recipe for the flavor!

    • Tracy

      hmmm. I believe it’s the wheat germ that binds it all. I’m glad that you tried them and found a really good GRANOLA in the process. High five for making lemons into lemonade!!

  • Janice

    Do you know the nutritional info for this. I am doing WW and want to figure out the points.

    • Tracy

      You should be able to add the recipe to the ww calculator online!

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