Granola Bars

So with the upcoming move we have decided that we need to get rid of some of the excess food that we have in the house. This means finding something to do with all of the junk that we have acquired over the past two years. In my venture to do so I have made "pudding pops" out of milk and Nutella (at 138 calories per popsicle, they aren't bad), fudge (it was a crumbly mess and I will not post about it...), oatmeal/raisin cookies, and now I am working on Granola bars.

I have done some researching on the internet, commonly referred to as my brain (running joke with one of my girlfriends), and I have come up with a recipe similar to that of the one on the King Arthur Flour website. It goes as follows:

1 1/2 C oats
1/3 C oat flour (I just blended my oats in my handy dandy Vitamix)
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
dash of nutmeg (I add this to just about any recipe that calls for cinnamon, I think that it complements the flavor, I LOVE IT)
3 C of fruit/nut mix (with this batch I used: raisins, dates, figs, and almonds)
6 T. butter
1/3 C peanut butter, or any nut butter
1/3 C honey, or maple syrup
1 T vanilla extract
1 T water

Preheat the oven to 350 F, and cover a 9x9 or 8x8 pan with wax paper or parchment paper.

Combine all dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.

In a small saucepan, melt butter and add the rest of the "wet" ingredients. Once heated through and melted together pour over the dry ingredients and mix well.

Pour all of it into the pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool on the counter for 20-30 minutes and then place in the refrigerator.

excuse the knife...

Cut into bars to serve. The granola bars can be kept for up to a week, but I doubt they will last that long.