My husband gets up really early for work, like really early, 5 am early. I don't know about you but the last thing I want to be doing at the ass crack of dawn is making breakfast. BUT if I leave it to him, he will leave without eating because he most likely slept in ;)
I was browsing a few of my favorite food blogs, trying to get ideas as to what I could prepare ahead of time that would be a good healthy breakfast on the go when the idea for a breakfast bar of some sort dawned on me--THUS the homemade granola bars were made! The best part of these delicious bars is that I didn't have to run to the store to get any ingredients-I used what I had in my pantry and I assure you if you dig deep enough in your pantry you will be able to make these with no problem at all! They were so easy to make, and turned out so chewy, toasty, fruity and sweet. My husband likes chocolate with his grains so I drizzled a little bit of chocolate on half the bars. I know if my nieces and nephews were here, they would gobble them right up!
NOW I will give you the exact recipe that I used but there is plenty of room to substitute a lot of the ingredients for things you would prefer in your bars. Easy peasy!
Homemade granola bars (drizzled with chocolate-or not!)
3 cups plain quaker oats
1/2 cup crushed walnuts (or any other nut you prefer)
1/2 cup quinoa (this stuff is awesome-and full of protein)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp oil (or applesauce if you prefer!)
6 1/2 oz dried fruit (I used dried pineapple, cranberry, and coconut flakes)
1/8 cup of any nut you want (i used cashews and cinnamon roasted almonds)
I know that it sounds like a bunch of stuff all mashed together, and that's exactly what it is! And they are DELICIOUS.
Butter a 9x9 baking dish or cake pan, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Spread oats, quinoa, and walnuts evenly onto a sheet pan and toast for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the honey, brown sugar and oil (or applesauce!) in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until the brown sugar is dissolved.
once the oat mix is done toasting, remove from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees.
Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit and nuts, and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.
Turn out into prepared baking dish or cake pan, and press down to evenly distribute.
Bake for 25 minutes at 300 degrees, cool for one hour, and cut into even squares.
If you wanted chocolate on them as well-just melt 2 oz of semi sweet chocolate chips in a double boiler, or microwave and stir until smooth. Drizzle over the bars-the chocolate will harden nicely.
I individually wrapped my bars in wax paper, and put them on the dining room table so he can just grab and go in the morning-OR you can store them in an airtight container for up to a week if you prefer. That's it--you're done! Now breakfast is good to go, and I don't even have to wake up!
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