Granola bars left the crunchy, dirty hippie realm long ago and are now considered mainstream. When soccer moms adopted it, you know it had gone global. A granola bar takes everything wonderful about granola—the nuttiness, the sweetness, the hidden gems of fruit, chocolate and spice—and packs it to go. It’s perhaps the easiest way to eat breakfast or a snack. Dip one into milk, you’ll see.

These granola bars are surprisingly easy to make and require very little skill in the kitchen. Boiling, stirring, and packing is really all you need to know how to do. I filled mine with chopped dates, a little flax, some almonds and chocolate chips that melt to create a continuous ribbon of richness throughout the bars. Man, were they crunchy good. Since this was my first batch of granola bars, I’ll be real, there were more granola ‘clumps’ than definite bars. But hey, it’s not about looks. I’ve tweaked the recipe so poof! Granola bars await. Make your own. Bask in the hippie dippie quality of your kitchen. And then recall that you are a college student, and homemade, ready-to-go breakfast is really a wonderful thing.

Level: Advanced

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

Servings: 16

Ingredients:
3 cups oats
1 cup nuts, like slivered almonds
¾ cup flax

½ cup honey
½ cup white sugar
¼ cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter

½ cup chocolate chips or additional add-ins
1 cup roughly chopped fruit, like pitted dates
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F .
2. In a large bowl, toss together the oats, nuts, and flax.
3. Spread out on a baking sheet and toast for 15 minutes.
 *Baking sheet should have raised rims.  These are called jellyroll pans. 
4. Remove from heat and reduce oven temperature to 275˚F.
5. While the oat mixture is toasting, combine the honey, sugars and butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
6. Stir until the sugars have dissolved and mixture comes to a boil.
7. Reduce to a simmer, and simmer for about five minutes. Remove from heat.
8. In a large bowl, toss together the toasted oat mixture, the honey syrup, the chopped fruit, cinnamon, salt and any additional add-ins.
9. Line the baking sheet with tin foil, and grease with oil or cooking spray. Press the granola mixture into the prepared pan.
10. Bake the bars at 275˚F  for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely before removing from pan and slicing. Store covered.