Granola bars

My hubby loves granola bars. However, most grocery stores carry the kinds with ton of sugar. Every time we go to Costco, he would hang around the granola bars area and read the information in the back of the package. With disappointment, he put the package of granola back to the shelf and said, "Gosh, I just wish they make them with less sugar." And then we continue grocery shopping.

At night, I kept wondering. How hard is it to make granola bars? It could not be that hard. I started to search for granola recipes on the internet. I found some recipes, but I kept thinking. What if it doesn't turn out chewy? What if it's not good enough? Hence; I never try to make it. Couple of weeks ago, I went to Costco with hubby again. And i saw the exact same thing. He wanted granola bars with less sugar. Finally, I decided to make it.


This was my first attempt of making granola bars. To my surprise, it turned out perfect. He loved it :-) And you know what's even better? There were not sweet :-)


When you make your own granola bars, you only put the ingredients you like. I have oats at home. Plus, we always have dried cranberries around because I always make muffins. Last week, I just bought a whole jar of mixed nuts. Of course, everyone has cheerios and marshmallow lying around. Since I have almost all ingredients, why not?


This is the whole tray.

After you mixed the wet ingredients together, you added the dried ingredients.


Hubby used the baking rollers to even out the granola in the flat tray. When it's cool, it's ready to be cut.


Ingredients:
1 cup of whole grain crispy corn puffs cheerios (I used Kix's.)
2 cups of oats
1 cup of mixed nuts ( I bought this from Costco's.)
1/4 cup of sesame seeds
1 cup of dried cranberries (You can use any dried fruits you like.)
1/2 cup of honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tablespoons of whole ground flax seed meal (I used Bob's Red Mill) ---optional
12 marshmallows
2 tbsp butter

Method:
1) Prehead the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the oats, nuts, onto a sheet pan. Toast for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
2) In a saucepan, combine butter, honey, vanilla, salt, marshmallows and placed over medium heat. Stir until well blended.
3) Add step 1 to step 2 and the rest of the remaining ingredients. Mix well.
4) Press cereal mixture firmly into the greased 13X9 pan ( I used the baking roller to help me smooth out the surface.)
5) Cut into 40 bars.

Enjoy!