Provident Living Recipes- Granola Bars

Also copied this from Sheena's blog. She is pretty fabulous, maybe she should join us on our blog!

Sheena's Granola Bar Recipe

After lots of recipe searching and trying... I have created my own granola bar recipe. It is pretty dang awesome if I do say so myself. They are cheaper per bar than store bought even using "expensive" ingredients. There are lots of variations you can do too to change it up.

Ingredients:

2 cups oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 cup almonds (I like to use whole almonds and chop them up a little... I like the big chunks!)
1/4 cup whole flax seed (I guess you could use milled, but I like whole)
1/2 cup TVP (textured Veggie Protein... made from soy flour for added protein)
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
4 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
approximately 8 oz. dried fruit (I like cranberries or raisens)

Mix together oats, wheat germ (found by the oatmeal in the grocery store), almonds, flax seed, and TVP. Pour onto cookie sheet and broil on low stirring frequently to prevent burning. Toast for a few minutes, then pour toasted dry mix into a large bowl and add the dried fruit to it. Mix fruit in well.

Put brown sugar, honey, butter, and vanilla in sauce pan and cook on medium until simmer.

Pour hot "glue" mix into the bowl with the dry mix and stir VERY well to get all the dry mix coated with the "glue".

Line a 9x13 pan with foil, spray with Pam and pour mixture into pan. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap and press granola mixture into pan. You want to really press in all down to make sure that it will stay together. Let cool for 2-3 hours, or place in fridge for 1-2 hours.

Lift foil and granola chunk out of the pan and place on cutting board. Using a NON-serated knife, cut the chunk into desired sized bars by pressing straight down into the granola. Store in a tupperware or individually wrap with plastic wrap. I like to store mine in the fridge because it makes them hard and cold, but not in the fridge is fine too.

Variations: (Sara Speaking) we have done this recipe several ways. Toasting and not toasting, Choco chips and no choco chips, flax seed no flax seed, almonds no almonds.

I think as long as you stick with the same amount of "dry" ingredients, you can use just about anything you have.

I am going to try substituting 1 cup of the oats for 1 cup of bran flake cereal. Also, if you can't find TVP in your health food section of your grocery store, you can just use more oats and wheat germ. Or try no wheat germ and use only oats and bran flakes. Try sunflower seeds, walnuts, or peanuts in place of the flax seed or some of the almonds. To make them fancy, try melting a cup of chocolate chips (white or dark or milk chocolate) and drizzle over the tops of the bars.

You can pretty much try anything. ENJOY! They are tasty and high in fiber and protein. Not to mention, they are sure a lot healthier than the granola "candy" bars you buy in the stores where the main ingredient is high fructose corn syrup.