Homemade Granola Bars

Here’s a peek at my day:

7:00 am – Prepare breakfast for husband and son

7:45 am – Shuttle son and neighbor to band camp

8:00 am – Stop at grocery store for dinner ingredients

9:00 am – Blogging time

11:45 am – Pick up son from band camp

12:00 noon – Feed ravenous son

1:00 pm – Remind son that he should start working on his summer reading project

2:30 pm – Wake husband (he works nights) and prepare him a light snack

4:00 pm – Dinner for my “boys”

5:45 pm – Another trip to band camp

6:30 pm – Evening walk

8:45 pm – Pick up whoever I can fit in the car from band camp

And school hasn’t even started, yet!

My point?  Sometimes you just need a quick snack that you can take on-the-go.  I love this granola bar recipe for its simplicity.  Plus, there are no artificial ingredients or preservatives.

Homemade Granola Bars – Makes 8 bars

Ingredients:

• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 T butter
• 2 T wheat germ
• pinch of salt

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper.

2.  Melt butter in a saucepan.  Add honey, brown sugar and a pinch of salt.  Stir to combine.

3.  Mix in oats, almonds, dried fruit, and wheat germ.

4.  Press mixture into baking pan.  Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.  Allow to cool and cut into bars.  Keep up to 5 days in an airtight container.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine.

Further reading:  Red, white and blue granola