What if there were affordable granola bars with all your favorite ingredients?

I love granola bars. They are easy to grab on-the-go, they give me energy, they keep me satisfied between meals. But that doesn't mean I want to spend close to $4 a box for six measly bars full of sugar and sodium. So I decided to make my own.


To start, here is a basic formula for granola bars that can be easily customized:

• Rolled Grains (2 ½ cups)- Oats (traditional or quick), Rye/Barley flakes…
• Nuts & Seeds (1 cup)-Almonds, Cashews, Pistachios, Pecans, Sunflower seeds, Pumpkin seeds…
• Spices- Cinnamon, ginger…
• Other Add-ins (1 cup)- Dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, figs…), chocolate chips, pretzel pieces…
     *You’ll notice below that I only added 1/3 cup of craisins. This caused my granola bars to turn out a little sad and bland. So I suggest you make sure your add-ins add up to a full cup, whether you decide to add 1 cup of a dried fruit, or 1/2 cup of a dried fruit and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, etc…
• Sticky Sweetener (1/3 cup + 1/4 cup)-Honey, Agave Nectar, Maple syrup…
• Binder (1 cup)- Unsweetened applesauce, sun butter, nut butters (peanut, cashew…), pureed dried fruit…

Tonight was the first night I tried this recipe. It's not perfect, but it is surprisingly versatile.

Almond Craisin Granola Bars

Ingredients
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 + 1/4 cup light agave nectar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups quick oats
1 cup almonds, chopped
1 cup craisins (again, I only put in 1/3 cup…big mistake) 

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
   *The original recipe called for an 8x8 pan; my pan was ~7x11 and worked just fine

In a large bowl, mix the applesauce, agave nectar, cinnamon, and vanilla extract together.

Mix in the quick oats a little at a time, making sure they are all coated in the binding mixture.

Stir in the craisins, making sure they are evenly distributed.

Spoon the mixture into the baking pan, pressing it into every corner. Make sure the surface is flat and smooth.

Bake for 25 minutes, and store in the freezer for 1 hour or until the bars are firm.

   *My freezer was full, so I put the pan in the refrigerator until I got home from the eye doctor (~3 hours)

Remove the pan from the freezer and cut the mixture into bars.

  *Depending on the pan you use and how big you cut them, this recipe should yield 8-16 bars