For awhile now I’ve had homemade granola bars on my to-make list. With the weather going from the low nineties to high sixties, the Fall baking bug has set in. The warm notes of toasty grains just sounded amazing on a chilly afternoon, plus they were a great snack to send a dear friend on the road with.
Dry Ingredients:
2 cups old fashioned oats, 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds, 1 cup sliced raw almonds, 3/4 cup wheat germ, 1/2 cup flax seed meal
Preheat the oven to 350º. Toast grains and seeds for 15 minutes. I set the timer in five minute increments and tossed around to avoid burning. The wheat germ will burn so watch closely.
Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup honey, 1/4 brown sugar, pinch of kosher salt, 3 TB butter, 2 tsp vanilla
Combine ingredients, warm on low heat until brown sugar is dissolved.
Chop 1/2 cup tart cherries and snack on a few while doing so.
In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients. Add in 1/2 cup chocolate chips, the chocolate will melt coating the mixture. If you would prefer chunks of chocolate make sure your syrup is cooled before adding in cherries and chocolate. Not saying I made this mistake…
Grease a 9×9 pan with butter and pat the mixture in until distributed. Bake at 300º for 20 minutes.
You can also serve the granola crumbled over pumpkin greek yogurt with a nice cup of joe. It makes for a great start to any chilly morning.
Yummy