Tree Hugging Granola Cruncher....

I am so not! Not that there's anything wrong with that, it just doesn't match my bacon loving lifestyle. But I do appreciate making much of our food from scratch...so sue me...

The Izbot is very sensitive to sugar and food colouring, it makes her super hyper and I think it is what causes her migraines. She was addicted to those nasty soft chewy granola bars, the ones that claim to be made of nutritious grains that taste like cardboard dipped in corn syrup, so I figured I'd source out a recipe for home made ones, if not only for her health, but also the sanity of her teachers.

I have altered this quite a bit from the original and it gets better every time I make it. You can play with it quite a bit in terms of flavours, we have tried using Craisins, works great, adding sesame seeds on top- Izbot thought it was too crunchy, so it's a great place to start.

This one is dedicated to my fellow blogger Little T, the fabulous woman who made my bacon scarf. She is making her first forays into baking and though I'm not really much of a baker, I wanted to pass this along to her in thanks for the beautiful creation she made just for me!

Healthy But Great Tasting Granola Bars

Dry Ingredients

- 2 cups quick oats

- 3/4 cup packed Best Brown sugar - I prefer the flavour over the golden, Demerera is too crunch for this recipe

- 1/2 cup wheat germ

- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger-I freeze my ginger whole so when you grate it with the microplane it comes out as a fine power and is way easier to handle. And of course it keeps for along time.

- 1 healthy pinch of fresh grated nutmeg- I switched over from the pre- ground stuff about 3 months ago and will never go back. A healthy pinch is about 10 swipes across the microplane.

- 3 tbsp flax seeds - about a handful

- 3 tbsp raw pumpkin seeds - about a handful

- 1 cup all-purpose flour - you could use whole wheat

- 3/4 cup raisins

- 3/4 teaspoon salt - not Kosher, I tried that once and it was gross.

Wet

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup honey

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

1. Grease and line with parchment paper a 9x13 inch baking pan. This is important, I highly recommend using the parchment or else I don't know how you will get the finished product out of the pan. Greasing it lightly first helps it stick to the pan.

2. In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center.

3. In a smaller bowl, beat the egg lightly. In your 1/2 cup measure start with the oil, (it will help the honey release from the measuring cup) then honey and vanilla. Mix this all together with a whisk until well combined.

4. Pour wet into dry and mix well using your hands. It feels kinda nasty, but just go with it, we're pretending to be tree hugging granola eaters here people!

5. With lightly oiled hands, press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. You will want to push the edges down around the "lump" so it's a even thickness at the edges.

6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then lift the whole thing out, USING THE PARCHMENT PAPER, and let cool a bit more on a wire rack. Cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut.

I get probably about 16 out of a batch and put them in small snack size ziplock bags, which all go into a large ziplock bag, then into the freezer. They keep well for about 2 weeks.

Mix and match your favorite flavours (peanut butter?) and let me know how they turn out for you!