Honey Granola Bars

Our family lives on a budget. That means that sometimes simple things like buying granola bars, needs to go. It isn’t that they are costly over time, but we already buy bulk at Costco, so we might as well make our own and save some cents. Plus, I want clean ingredients and to be able to control sugar content.

After looking at numerous recipes, I found one that with a few tweaks was perfect. You can add anything you want to it, but we keep it pretty simple.

​Ingredients:
2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1/2 cup oat flour (oatmeal that’s pulsed in blender or food processor until rough flour)
1/4 tsp baking soda
Less than 1/4 tsp pink salt
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup real maple syrup, or sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Optional:
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp flax seeds
top with dark chocolate chips

​Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper, allowing 2 flaps to overhang.
2. Mix oat flour, oats, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. If adding chia seeds or flax seeds, do so now, mix.
3. Melt coconut oil. Add honey + syrup (sugar) + vanilla. Pour into oat mixture. Stir until well coated. Spread evenly into the pan. Press down firmly. Top with chocolate chips, if desired.
4. Bake for 20 minutes. They are done when they are golden and smell like honey. Cool for 10 minutes, then lift parchment paper by flaps and remove from pan. Cut into 8 bars. Refrigerate to cool completely before wrapping. (I use snack size ziploc bags.) They firm up as they cool.

*Note: syrup makes them more crumbly but I just love the flavor so much.