Granola Bars

I work in an autism class and we do cooking every week. A few weeks ago we made homemade granola bars and they were so good! I add a few things to mine, some flax seed in the mix and then I drizzled melting chocolate, because I know my kids would not think it was a granola bar without chocolate. The dried fruit I added was currants. As a kid, my grandma would put on tea parties for myself and my cousins and we would always have currants. They bring back so many memories.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces old-fashioned rolled oats, about 2 cups
• 1 1/2 ounces raw sunflower seeds, about 1/2 cup
• 3 ounces sliced almonds, about 1 cup
• 1 1/2 ounces wheat germ, about 1/2 cup
• 6 ounces honey, about 1/2 cup
• 1 3/4 ounces dark brown sugar, about 1/4 cup packed
• 1-ounce unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 1/2 ounces chopped dried fruit, any combination of apricots, cherries or blueberries

Directions

Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, and wheat germ onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved.

Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

*The next time I make them, I think I would toast the oat mix for a less amount of time and cook them less in the end. They came out pretty firm.