Granola Bars

YES, you can make your own homemade granola bars!  Its easier than you think and the flavor is well worth your effort.  I saw a recipe for these back in the winter time in the Food and Wine magazine and I decided to give it a try.  I tweaked their recipe a bit and can now call it my own.  These disappear quickly in our house. During ski season my husband was leaving with handfuls of these bars to take for a snack and now its golf season and the same thing is happening.  Plus I think they make a great breakfast and my daughter likes them for a snack sometimes.  Hope you enjoy them as much as my family has!

1 cup peanuts, crushed
1/2 cup almonds, crushed or slivered
2 cups old fashioned oats
2/3 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup honey
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
3/4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups rice krispies
1 cup dried cranberries

The nuts, seeds and dried fruit can be substituted with YOUR FAVORITES.  The combination above just happens to be the one I like best.  I have tried it with raisins and pecans before as well.  Just keep the measurements the same.

1.  Preheat the oven to 350' and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Spread the nuts, oats and seeds on the sheet and bake for exactly 8 minutes.  Transfer this mixture to a large bowl.  Don't skip this baking step because this short roasting time is what gives the granola bars such a great flavor!

2.  In a saucepan, bring the sugar, honey, butter and salt to a boil over medium/high heat.  Simmer until the sugar is dissolved and a light brown caramel forms.  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

3.  Pour the caramel over the nut & oat mixture.  Stir in the rice krispies and cranberries until evenly coated.

4.  Take the same piece of parchment paper you used earlier and line a 9 x 13 baking pan.  Scrape the granola mixture into the pan and cover with a second sheet of parchment paper or wax paper and press it down to compress it.  Let stand until firm, about 2 hours.

5.  Discard the top sheet of parchment/wax paper.  Lift the entire block of granola out of the pan and place on a cutting board.  Cut into 24 bars.

6.  Wrap each bar individually with plastic wrap and store in an airtight container or large zip lock bag.  (yes, its worth your time to wrap these individually, it makes transporting them as snacks easy and also keeps them very fresh).