Made with Love Granola Bars

In the spirit of the approaching holiday, and mostly our post-holiday detoxing efforts... the husband and I have resolved this year to eat better.  We have made small adjustments in our menu planning to eat more organically, {attempting to} cut out the processed foods and working on a little cleaner living for our family.  This week I decided to 86 the store bought granola bars that we love to eat on the go and replace them with a home made organic variety.  My {second} batch came out great!  They are fun to make and perfect for lunches and the hub's golf bag.  


Below is the base recipe for these healthy filling snacks, with plenty of room for creativity and customization!  We simply used organic brands of the following ingredients, and most can be found at Good Earth Naturals in Leonardtown where we do a lot of our grocery shopping.  

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cups rolled old fashioned oats
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup raw honey 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon flax seeds
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries (lots of options for died fruit here)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325. Oil/coat with non-stick 9x13 square baking dish. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the all of the ingredients above. hand mixing works best!
3. Bake at 325 degrees F for 18-20 minutes or until set and edges are browned.
4. Cool completely on a wire rack. Allow to cool for 30 mins or more to ensure they are firm before cutting into bars.  (I popped mine in the freezer for 10 minutes too).

combine ingredients

mix well, hand mixing works well...

press firmly into baking dish

bake at 325 degrees F for 20 mins

cut into 1" bars

wrap individually for easy storage and grab go snack!