Homemade Granola Fruit Bars

I saw this recipe yesterday and it's just what I've been looking for. I've been wanting to make my own granola bars for some time now as I'm not overly happy with having to buy them all the time from the grocery store, along with the fact that they're so full of sugar. I tried making these last night and I must say they're a winner! Oh my goodness, delish! I just had to share! Thanks so much to Jennifer for sharing her recipe! :)

I packaged the granola bars up in little ziploc snack bags. This is only part of them, the recipe actually made 21 bars.

Homemade Granola Fruit Bars

Add the following to a 11” x 13” cookie sheet (with sides):

2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup Wheat Germ (for protein) or Natural Wheat Bran (for fibre)
1 cup slivered almonds, roughly chopped

Mix them a bit, right in the tray (why dirty another bowl?!)
Toast in a 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. STIR often (every TWO MINUTES... or it'll burn on you!)
Meanwhile... grab a pot and add the following:

2/3 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Honey
4 Tbsp. Butter (which is 1/4 cup)
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. Salt

Bring this to a simmer, stirring constantly.
Prepare an 11x13 (9x13 would work just fine!) pan, line with wax paper & spray lightly with non-stick spray. DO this. I didn't the second time I made these, forgot, and that wax paper was ripping to get off... spray helped a ton!!

Now, you may add some dry fruit to it raisins, Craisins (dried cranberries) & chopped apricots - about a cup. Then, add 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds and 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds. (If you prefer, you may use 1 cup of sunflower seeds and omit the pumpkin seeds.)

STIR IT ALL together until it's really well mixed. Dump it into your prepared pan. Grab some wax paper for the top (to keep your hands clean) and press it down into the pan. Let it sit for 2-3 hours before lifting it out and cutting it into bars. I also wrap them individually so they're handy to grab when we're on the run, or else all ready for school lunches :)

I was actually so determined to make this last night that I braved a blizzard yesterday with my hubby and kids to walk over to the store. We figured that we'd leave the car home and walk over as it's normally only about a 20 minute walk through the walking trails. We brought the sled to pull the kids with and they had so much fun. I must say though, that the weather was a little less than to be desired! Our 'little' trip ended up taking us 2 hours! We were cold and our legs sure were tired when we got home from walking through all that snow. Oh well, we all fared fine and the kids had fun so that's all that counts, right? lol :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)