Your Favorite Flavor Granola Bars Food

EASY NO-BAKE GRANOLA BARS

Steps:

• Line a 9-inch square baker with two strips of criss-crossed parchment paper, cut to fit neatly against the base and up the sides. The parchment paper will make it easy for you to slice the bars later.
• Place the oats in a large mixing bowl**. Add the cinnamon and salt, and stir to combine. Set aside.
• Now we'll blitz the mix-ins briefly in the food processor or blender (or, you can chop them by hand). Add any large nuts (like almonds or pecans) first and blitz for a few seconds. Then add the rest and run the machine for a few more seconds, until the ingredients are all broken up into pieces smaller than your pinky nail. Pour the mix-ins into the bowl of oats.
• In a 2-cup liquid measuring cup, measure out the nut butter. Top with ½ cup honey and the vanilla extract. Stir until well blended. If you must, you can gently warm the liquid mixture on the stovetop or in the microwave, but make sure it's close to room temperature before you pour it into the dry mixture (this is especially important if using chocolate, since it will melt).
• Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Use a big spoon to mix them together until the two are evenly combined and no dry oats remain. This takes some arm muscles, but you can do it! If the mixture was easy to mix together, that's a sign that you need to add some more oats-sprinkle in more oats until you can't incorporate any more.
• Transfer the mixture to the prepared square baker. Use your spoon to arrange the mixture fairly evenly in the baker, then use the bottom of a flat, round surface (like a short, sturdy drinking glass) to pack the mixture down as firmly and evenly as possible.
• Cover the baker and refrigerate for at least one hour, or preferably overnight. (The oats need time to soak up some of the moisture so they aren't sticky.) When you're ready to slice, lift the bars out of the baker by grabbing both pieces of parchment paper on opposite corners. Use a sharp knife to slice the bars into 4 even columns and 4 even rows.
• Wrap individual bars in plastic wrap or parchment paper (if you store them all together, they will stick to one another). Bars keep well for several days at room temperature, a couple of weeks in the fridge, or several months in a freezer-safe bag in the freezer for best flavor.

NO FLOUR NO SUGAR GRANOLA BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F Line an 8″ x 8″ x 2″ pan in one direction with parchment paper, allowing it to go up the opposing sides. Lightly grease the parchment paper and the exposed pan, or coat with a non-stick spray.
• Stir together all the dry ingredients, including the fruit and nuts. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, melted butter or oil, liquid sweeteners, and water. Toss the wet ingredients with the dry, and peanut butter until the mixture is evenly crumbly. Spread in the prepared pan, pressing them in firmly to ensure they are molded to the shape of the pan.
• Bake the bars for 30 to 40 minutes, until they're brown around the edges - don't be afraid to get a little color on the tops too. They'll still seem soft and almost underbaked when you press into the center of the pan but do not worry, they'll set completely once completely cool.
• Cool the bars in their pan completely on a cooling rack. (Alternately, after about 20 minutes you can use your parchment "sling" to lift and remove the bars, and place them in their paper on the rack to cool the rest of the way. This can speed the process up.).
• Once cool, a serrated knife (or bench knife) to cut the bars into squares. If bars seem crumbly, chill the pan of them further in the fridge for 30 minutes which will fully set the "glue", then cut them cold. To store, wrap the bars individually in plastic or stack them in an airtight container. In humid weather, it's best to store bars in the refrigerator. They also freeze well.

YOUR FAVORITE FLAVOR GRANOLA BARS

Steps:

• First melt the margarine and honey in a saucpan on the stove or in a micro-safe container.
• Add all the other ingredients and mix well.
• (It tastes good at this point, but try not to eat it all).
• At this point you can add one or two of the optional ingredients.
• Switch honey and white sugar to maple syrup and brown sugar.
• Or add 1 cup chopped peanuts and a 1/4 cup of peanut butter.
• Then pour choc chips on top after baked and spread.
• Or add cinnamon, groung cloves and ginger.
• Or add chopped or crushed nuts of your choice.
• And or add half the bag chips (any flavor) to the mix as well as melting on top.
• Use your imagination and anything you find left in the pantry!
• Press hard onto a cookie sheet.
• I usually line it with foil.
• Bake at 320 for 15 minutes.
• It will puff up.
• Remove from the oven and evenly sprinkle half a bag of your favorite flavor chips on top.
• Wait a minute and then spread with a spatula.
• Careful not to pick up the spatula, but just keep spreading.
• You MUST cut into squares while still hot.
• They taste great hot and cold.
• Store for a week in an airtight container or they freeze great and even taste good frozen if you are sneaking them out of the freezer!