Granola Bars

I think I found my new favorite granola bar recipe ! We used cheerios for the dry cereal and it gives the perfect amount of crunch. Yummy!! Here is the recipe reprinted:

Alicia's Mix and Match Granola Bars

Makes about 20 full sized bars or 30 smaller bars

Ingredients:
4 cups quick cooking oats
3 cups dry cereal *
2 cups dried fruit **
1 cup nuts or seeds ***
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup honey (I used part agave)
1 cup sunbutter, soy nut butter or peanut butter
2 tsp real vanilla

1. Grease and set aside a 9x13 or 10x14 inch baking pan.

2. In a very large bowl, stir together the oats, cereal, fruit and nuts.

3. Heat the brown sugar and honey in a pan over medium heat, stirring often, just until boiling. Remove from heat and stir in the nut butter and vanilla.

4. Pour hot mixture over dry mixture and mix well. (If you are adding in chocolate chips, allow the mixture to cool slightly so they do not melt.)

5. Press very firmly into prepared pan (wetting your hands can help a bit). Allow to cool and cut into bars.

* Good dry cereal choices are rice crispies, cheerios and corn flakes. Rice crispies are perfect but anything crunchy will do.

** Dried fruit options include raisins, cranberries, blueberries, cherries, pineapple, etc. Diced prunes are surprisingly sweet and delicious but they're rather sticky. I dust them with powdered sugar to chop them so they don't make a sticky mass. You can also add ingredients like coconut and chocolate chips. Our favorite mix so far is chopped prunes, tart cherries, coconut and some white chocolate chips. You can also do themes like tropical with coconut, papaya, pineapple...

*** Any nuts or seeds will do. These contribute protein, texture and a bigger health punch. Options include sunflower seeds, chopped almonds, pecans, sesame seeds, flax seeds....

I wrap these in aluminum foil for on-the-go snacks. They can be kept at room temperature or refrigerated. They are slightly sticky and soft at room temperature, or at least they are in the summer.

Enjoy!