RJ Homestead

In my seemingly never ending quest to make homemade snacks, our next adventure was granola bars! I had tried a no-bake recipe and it ended up sticky and Eva just wasn’t a fan. So I resumed my quest and found a baked version similar to the Nature Valley oats and honey crunchy granola bars, which are so good! If you know, you know…

I recruited Eva’s help, which she gladly offered knowing she’d get to lick the honey spoon. Again, I didn’t have to buy any special ingredients. I already had everything I needed in my cupboards which is such an underrated simple pleasure, for me anyway. I’m a go to the grocery store once a week kinda gal. Don’t make me run out in the middle of a recipe to get something crazy. 

In this recipe, you actually toast the granola a little first which I thought was so smart! You can also add nuts to it, but Eva declined that pretty quickly. We are working on adding nuts to her diet as a healthy fat but it’s slow going. I will say this recipe uses a decent amount if brown sugar for my liking but life is all about balance, right? She stuffs herself full of fresh fruits and veggies so a sweeter treat now and then is okay too. 

We were able to whip these up in about an hour, give or take, but it made a large amount and they really are yummy! We shouldn’t have to make any for a couple of weeks. These will be nice to take on vacation or on family outings. 

Looking at the ingredients list for the store bought variety, they don’t look too bad until I see “natural flavors.” Not sure what that means but I know I don’t trust it. Plus, a box of 12 bars is $3.50! I haven’t calculated the exact cost but I got triple the amount of bars and the most expensive ingredient is the raw local honey, which we are more than happy to pay for, both to support other local businesses and because local honey helps with allergies! Win win!!!

As always, the recipe is below! Enjoy! 

Ingredients

• 7 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups whole almonds, pecans, walnuts or peanuts 
• 3/4 cup honey
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (optional)

Directions

Adjust oven rack to the middle of the oven and set the temperature to 375 degrees.

Line an 18 x 13 inch rimmed baking pan with aluminum foil.

Combine the oats, oil and salt in a large bowl and mix until the oats are evenly coated. Transfer the mixture to the baking sheet and spread into an even layer. Bake, stirring every 10 minutes, until pale gold, 20-25 minutes. Remove the oats and lower the oven temp to 300 degrees.

Place the nuts in a food processor and process until coarsely chopped. Or just chop coarsely with a big sharp knife.

Combine the honey and brown sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and cinnamon (if using).

Combine the oats, nuts, and honey mixture in a large bowl and stir with a large rubber spatula until the oats are thoroughly coated with the honey mixture. Spray the baking sheet (still with foil sling) with non-stick spray then transfer the granola mixture to the prepared baking sheet and spread in an even layer. Spray a large metal spatula or a square dish with non-stick spray and firmly press the mixture into the pan. Make a flat, tight, and even layer. Bake until golden, about 35-40 minutes.

Cool in the baking sheet, on a wire rack, for 10-15 minutes before cutting into bars, I used a pastry scraper to cut.  Cut the bars all the way through and then allow the granola bars to completely cool. Do not wait longer than 15 minutes before cutting the bars. They harden up significantly as they cool. Any longer and you’ll have a very hard time cutting thru them.

The bars can be stored, covered for up to 2 weeks.