Fruity Granola Energy Bars

"A Healthy snack to make, and enjoy. Haven't had a chance to make this yet myself. Use your favorite dried fruit, figs, dates dried cranberries, cherries or blueberries in place of the apricots and raisins. Enjoy."
 
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photo by justcallmetoni photo by justcallmetoni
photo by justcallmetoni
photo by justcallmetoni photo by justcallmetoni
Ready In:
35mins
Ingredients:
12
Yields:
18 Bars
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ingredients

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directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with non-stick cooking spray or brush with oil.
  • Combine oats,wheat germ, apricots, raisins, sunflower seeds, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.
  • Combine melted butter and brown sugar in a small bowl until sugar is dissolved.
  • Stir in honey, egg and vanilla until smooth.
  • Stir liquid mixture into dry mixture until dry ingredients are evenly moistened.
  • Press mixture firmly and evenly in prepared pan.
  • Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden and firm.
  • Cool on wire rack before cutting into squares or bars.
  • Wrap individually for easy grab and go breakfasts and snacks.

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Reviews

  1. This was really tasty and easy too. We decreased the oats to 1 1/2 cups and added in a 1/2 cup of protein powder.
     
  2. These are REALLY tasty. I followed someone's suggestion and combined dry ingredients first and then microwaved the next ingredients (butter, br. sugar, and honey) then later added egg and vanilla. This worked very well. The bars still didn't stick together as well as I would have liked....with just a few crumbles so it's nothing I'd complain about but why I didn't give it 5 stars. But the boys LOVED them.
     
  3. I used the suggestions given already and these bars turned out great! exactly what I was looking for as a quick breakfast, and sooo much better than store-brought... for fruits I used a mixture of raisins, apricots, pineapple and banana, and instead of sunflower seeds I used chopped walnuts, almonds and flax seeds. I didn't have wheat germ so I used flour instead. I overbaked it a bit so it came out more crunchy than chewy, but still very very tasty! For my taste, this is 12 servings and not 18, though. Thanks for a great recipe! Update: These also freeze very well. Also, I tried to add 3 tbsp peanutbutter instead of the oil, salt, cinnamon and vanilla (and if I'd do it again, instead of the honey as well). Heavenly!
     
  4. These are excellent! And thank you to all for the comments. I took the advice to microwave the oil, brown sugar, and honey to make it easier to dissolve. Unfortunately I didn't see that until I was ready to make it (meaning I had already completed steps 1-3) so I had to wait around for it to cool. I also used 1/2 cup vanilla whey protein powder and 1.5 cups quick oats (rather than 2 cups quick oats) and they came out great! I love the flavor (enhanced I think by the vanilla protein) and can't wait to use them for fuel before (and during) going running. Thanks!
     
  5. Followed the modified directions suggested by Anne - melting the brown sugar oil and honey together before mixing with the dry. This worked extremely well and made these bars easy to put together. I also replaced 1/4 cup of oats with soy protein powder to give my bars a little extra charge. For the dried fruit, I used a combination of golden raisins, apricots and cherries. My bars were very moist and chewy, not at all dry. To evenly pat the batter into the pan, I placed a sheet of waxed paper on top and smoothed it down - no sticky fingers. Thanks!
     
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Tweaks

  1. I used the suggestions given already and these bars turned out great! exactly what I was looking for as a quick breakfast, and sooo much better than store-brought... for fruits I used a mixture of raisins, apricots, pineapple and banana, and instead of sunflower seeds I used chopped walnuts, almonds and flax seeds. I didn't have wheat germ so I used flour instead. I overbaked it a bit so it came out more crunchy than chewy, but still very very tasty! For my taste, this is 12 servings and not 18, though. Thanks for a great recipe! Update: These also freeze very well. Also, I tried to add 3 tbsp peanutbutter instead of the oil, salt, cinnamon and vanilla (and if I'd do it again, instead of the honey as well). Heavenly!
     
  2. Followed the modified directions suggested by Anne - melting the brown sugar oil and honey together before mixing with the dry. This worked extremely well and made these bars easy to put together. I also replaced 1/4 cup of oats with soy protein powder to give my bars a little extra charge. For the dried fruit, I used a combination of golden raisins, apricots and cherries. My bars were very moist and chewy, not at all dry. To evenly pat the batter into the pan, I placed a sheet of waxed paper on top and smoothed it down - no sticky fingers. Thanks!
     
  3. I just made these yesterday and was very happy with the result! I followed Anne V's suggestions with the sugar. They were a little crubly but not enough to complain. I used dried cherries and dried bluberries instead of apricots and raisins. I WILL make this again!
     
  4. Very chewy granola bars. I love them. I used a mix of dried pears and red plums instead of the apricots, and I just added the brown sugar in the with dry ingredients, instead of trying to dissolve it in such a small quantity oil. I can't wait to try these with other kinds of dried fruits.
     
  5. My husband and I love the recipe, especially when I substituted cranberries for the raisins. I have made it twice and have some recommendations for improvement. 1. It is impossible to dissolve 1/2 cup of brown sugar in 1 T of melted butter (or oil). To remedy this, I have the following recommendation: (a) Delete step four and insert a new step one. (b) The new step one would be to mix the brown sugar, butter (or oil), and honey in a small pan or microwaveable bowl, and heat the mixture on low heat until a smooth liquid forms (with bubbles on the surface). Set aside to cool. (c) Revise step five to delete the honey, but add the egg and vanilla to the cooled sugar mixture. 2. Recommend emphasizing in step nine that the bars are very fragile when warm, but firm up as they cool. Thus it is important not to remove them from the pan until completely cool. 3. Recommend using safflower oil instead of butter (better nutritional value).
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Hi, I live in Toronto, Ontario. I have been very happily married for 20 years, I enjoy cooking, gardening, and fishing with my best friend (Hubby), and going up north for the peace and quiet from the city, enjoy reading a good book,watching movies,love animals, crocheting which I enjoy making afghan's and dollies, I have won ribbons for my things, and I really enjoy looking over all the recipes here at Zaar and baking them.
 
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