This morning I wanted to make my kids a healthy snack for after school. I have never made homemade granola bars and have always wanted to. After consulting several recipes I created my own version. I wanted to imitate this apple cranberry granola bar that we can't find anymore at our local grocery store. Most granola bars, homemade or otherwise, have corn syrup in them. Disgusting. I stay away from that stuff as much as possible so I used a combination of butter, applesauce, and honey and the result was so delicious. If you want to give this a try and you don't have dried cranberries on hand try using raisins and omitting the almond extract.
2 C. Quick Oats
1/2 C. Rice Crispies
1/4 C. Coconut
1/4 C. Dried Cranberries
1/4 C. Pecans, chopped pretty small but not into dust
1/4 C. Dried Apples, chopped into small bits (if you don't have dried apples just use fresh)
1/3 C. Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1 Egg
1/4 C. Butter, softened
1/2 C. Applesauce
1/2 C. Honey
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 tsp. Almond Extract (optional)
Combine all dry ingredients and mix together well. Add egg, butter, applesauce, honey and extracts. Spray a 9x13 (or a 8x12 pan if you want your bars to be a little thicker) with cooking spray and press granola mixture into pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before cutting into bars. Allow to cool for another hour or until completely cool before serving.
These look great! I'm glad they turned out well for you.
ReplyDeleteI made these today and I liked them, but my kids loved them. Totally different then what I was expecting. A good healthy snack.
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