Recipe: Oat and Nut Granola Bars

 I have tried making granola bars a few times, and they have never turned out. A few weeks ago I found this recipe from The Yummy Life who got it from Family Fresh Cooking! I read the Family Fresh Cooking Blog and I've never seen this recipe, I can't believe it. 


Today is hubby's day off and he and the girls and my FIL decided to watch an X-Men movie (which I don't care for). I decided to spend the morning in the kitchen, making granola bars and frozen burritos. Later today another yummy recipe that I can't share till the end of the month because it's part of the Secret Recipe Club and I have to wait till my reveal date. 


For now, I'm going to share the recipe for the granola bars I tried today. Enjoy!

Oat and Nut Granola Bars
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2-1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup raw almonds, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1/3 cup raw sesame seeds
• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons unsulfured blackstrap molasses (or equivalent amount of honey or maple syrup)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter (optional)
• 1/3 cup ground flax seed
• 1 cup dried blueberries, cranberries, chopped apricots or cherries--any combination (optional)

Directions

Coat a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On separate large baking sheet, combine oats, almonds, and the sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds; spread out in even layer. Bake for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in 2-quart sauce pan combine honey, molasses, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, and butter. Bring to boil over medium heat; boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. When oat mixture is finished toasting, remove from oven and pour in large mixing bowl; reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees. Add dried fruit (if using) and flax seed into oat mixture. Add hot liquid mixture to oatmeal mixture and stir until mix is well-coated. Immediately pour into prepared 9x13 pan. Spread evenly and pack down firmly using bottom of greased drinking glass. Bake 25 minutes. Cool completely. Invert pan to remove cooked mixture in one piece. Use large, heavy knife to cut into 16 bars. If too brittle to cut cleanly, heat in microwave for 10 seconds to soften slightly and ease cutting. Store cut bars in airtight container for at least 1 week.
TO FREEZE: wrap each bar individually in parchment or waxed paper and place inside Ziploc freezer bag or other airtight freezer container.
WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS PLUS (no butter versions): 6 points per bar without dried fruit, 7 points with dried fruit.

Recipe inspired by Marla at FamilyFreshCooking.com

 This is a recipe that you can really adapt to your families liking. Experiment with different nuts or dried fruits, or add a bit of chocolate.

I did a nutritional analysis to find out how many calories there were per bar (of course I thought I saved it, but apparently hadn't). There are approximately 210 calories per bar.

With Joy UNquenchable,