granola bars

Tasty Granola Bars

Servings: approximately 12 bars, depending on size of bars
Time: approximately 30 minutes, plus one hour for the bars to cool
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Ingredients:

2 cups puffed-rice cereal (I used Special K)
2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish and set aside. In a large bowl, combine cereal, oats, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, and wheat germ. Set aside. In a saucepan, combine tahini, brown sugar, and honey. Cook over medium heat until bubbling, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Turn off the heat and add the vanilla, and stir until well blended. Pour the tahini mixture over the dry ingredients, and stir until the dry ingredients are coated with the moist ingredients and everything is combined. Transfer the mixture to the 9×13-inch baking dish. Press down firmly so the mixture is flat and evenly distributed in the baking dish. Let cool for at least one hour. Cut with a sharp knife into bars. Enjoy!

I made a batch of these granola bars for my family yesterday morning, and they are already more than halfway gone. We have been so busy the past couple of weeks, and we have been packing a lot of snacks to take with us to soccer games and family events. Granola bars are perfect snacks because they are healthy, provide energy, and are easy to transport. Of course I often buy granola bars at the grocery store, but they are not as healthy as homemade ones. The recipe I will post for these homemade granola bars is easy and full of good ingredients like old-fashioned oats, wheat germ, and tahini, and natural sweeteners like brown sugar and honey. The dried cranberries and sprinkling of chocolate chips add some appeal, especially for the kids. I personally like the tahini, which is made from sesame seeds, in the granola bars. It adds a richness, plus extra vitamins and protein. If you are not used to buying tahini (I wasn’t, until I started making my own hummus), you can find it at many grocery stores in the section near the peanut butter or in the Mediterranean food section. You can also be creative with homemade granola bars and mix and match ingredients. Switch the dried cranberries for dried cherries, or switch the chocolate chips with mini marshmallows. There are lots of granola bar recipes out there, but variety is a good thing, especially when feeding kids! The recipe I will post is both healthy and tasty.