A blog request
I was feeling lazy today but a blogging request was made and I felt that I should oblige. The granola bars were that good, therefore I must share! I made homemade granola bars that pretty much rocked! I was happy with the outcome. The first time I made them they were EXTRA salty. I love salt but this was too much…eww. Below you find the ingredients and the steps to these delicious treats 
Ingredients
- 2 cups of oats
- 3/2 cup of wheat germ (baking aisle)
- 3/2 cup of sunflower seeds
-1 cup of peanuts, mashed
- 2/2 cup of brown sugar
- 1/2 cup of honey
-4 tablespoons of butter
- 2 tsp of vanilla extract
- 8oz dried fruit
- 1/2 tsp (optional)
*Note* Look for peanuts that are not salted if you are going to use the salt. I accidentally grabbed the salted peanuts and used salt my first time, that is why they came out super salty. I used the salted peanuts for mine & left out the salt.
Steps
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Crush peanuts. I put them into a small sandwich bag and then used a meat tenderizer. You can use whatever it is that you have available to mash the peanuts.
- Mix, peanuts, oats, wheat germ, and sunflower seeds in a pan that has sides. Toast this for 10 -12 mins & turn the oven off.
- Next, I put wax paper on a glass dish that I was going to use. Use a dish that is about the same size or a bit bigger than the toasting dish. Set aside
-Mix the butter, brown sugar, honey, vanilla extract, & salt into a sauce pan. I didn’t use any salt. First I put the butter in the pan and put the heat on low. This allows the butter to melt a little bit. Then I added the rest of the ingredients & put the burner on medium. I found that this keeps the stuff from sticking to the pan.
- In a large mixing bowl mix the grains, the sauce, & the dried fruit. I used raisins but any dried fruit will do just fine. Make sure to mix it well! The sauce acts as a glue to hold everything together.
- Remember that glass dish from the beginning? Good, now spread the mixture into that glass dish.
- Cover the mixture with wax paper and press firmly on it. This will compact the granola & make it stick together.
- Let it sit for 2-3 hours or until the granola has cooled.
- The granola is ready! Cut it and enjoy! I was able to cut the granola into 16 good sized pieces. I wrapped the rest of the granola bars in plastic paper and placed them in the fridge. My bars were really gooey & I think the refrigeration will help harden them & keep them together.
Sorry for the horrible pictures. I took these the first time I made the granola bars and I was too lazy to take new pictures this time around. This was a pretty cheap recipe. All I had to go out and buy was the wheat germ & the peanuts, everything else is always in my pantry
