Well, it’s finally happened: we are eating homemade granola bars. Next, we’ll be “harvesting” neighbourhood squirrels for stew or buying an electric car. But, before the tie-dyed crowd starts weaving daisies into my hair, I want to assure everyone that it was my wife who made these. Not me.
However, I do have to admit that, as far as granola bars go (and I’m sure that, wherever granola bars go, it’s by public transit), these aren’t bad. Chewy and crunchy, not too sweet, not too tart. After having one I almost feel like raising organic chickens in the backyard or reading a Margaret Atwood novel.
Come to think of it, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to wear socks with sandals.
Granola Bars
Adapted from this recipe by Alton Brown
2 Cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 Cup raw sunflower seeds
1 Cup chopped or sliced almonds
1/2 Cup wheat germ
1/2 Cup honey
1/4 Cup packed dark brown sugar
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, plus extra to grease the pan
2 Teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 Teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 to 1 Cup mixed dried fruit (any combination of apricots, cranberries, prunes, cherries etc)
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish.
Toast oats, almonds, sunflower seeds and wheat germ on a baking tray for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, in a medium pan over medium heat, combine honey, brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar fully dissolves.
Remove the toasted oat mixture from the oven and reduce heat to 300 F. Add the dry mixture to the liquid and stir until well combined.
Evenly press the mixture into the greased pan and bake for 25 minutes. Allow the pan to cool completely before cutting individual bars. Keeps in an air-tight container for one week. Enjoy.
Meats, Roots and Leaves 
I somehow knew you’d be Canadian! Funny post, and I think the recipe is pretty good too.
Thanks! And I didn’t even write about snow or hockey!
Yum. I wonder whether they’d stay together if I substitute agave or brown rice syrup for the sugar?
Thanks. I think they would stick together as long as you kept the honey.
Hilarious post. I hate the term “laugh out loud” but that’s what I did at the thought of you with daisies in your hair and granola bars on OC Transpo.
Hee, hee! I hope you snorted.
Found your site via the Upper Canada Heritage Meat site. Thanks for the recipe! I’m always looking for treats that don’t absolutely require eggs or dairy because of my kids’ allergies. I’ve had so-so luck with granola bars in the past (usually too crumbly) but will try again and report back. Your comment about socks and sandals made me laugh… I worked at Nortel long ago, and we saw a lot of that. Not sure they were hippies though… 😉