Toasted Oat Granola Bars

Granola bars remind me of Brownie Day Camp... I hated Brownie Day Camp. (Sorry Mom) Well, I liked the idea of being outdoors, running,crafting and singing, but for some reason I was always stuck in the boring group...Really I was.  So, I have always thought of Granola bars and Brownie Day Camp being a bit boring and a bit... hmm "dry."

Nope, not these little beauties... they are full of flavor and you can say good bye to the boring granola of yesterday.  One big secret is that they are more of a cookie then granola... oops I forgot to mention that one.

Toasting the oats in butter adds a great amount of flavor... so did the cranberries and raisins. You could also add toasted nuts.

 One other real great surprise was the use of honey, molasses and brown sugar. It made a thick gooey syrup that was mixed with the oats and flax meal before baking. Just pure goodness..I swear!

These bars are good for a breakfast treat, packed up for a snack on your next hike, or just because you want to remind yourself of good ol' Brownie Day Camp on a hot summer day.

Toasted Oat Granola Bars
From Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole-Grain Flours

Toasting the oats in the butter adds a ton of flavor and texture to these bars. I found that they were best eaten the day they were made. However stored in an airtight container they should last a couple of days. They do get a little bit hard the next day, but they were still pretty good.

1/2 stick unsalted butter

2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon flax seed meal
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup cranberries

1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 325 / Butter a 9x9 inch baking pan or glass baking dish

Melt the butter in a medium size pot on Medium heat. Add the oats and stir until they absorb the butter and become a toasted golden brown color.

Pour the oats in a large bowl and add 1/2 cup flax meal and cinnamon. Wipe clean the pot to use later for the syrup.

Toss the raisins and cranberries with the 1 tablespoon flax meal and then chop. The flax actually helps prevent the dried fruit from sticking to the knife. (Wonderful discovery) Add them to the oat mixture.

To make the syrup add the honey, brown sugar, molasses and salt to the reserved pot. Over a medium heat cook the syrup until it is boiling evenly. It took me about 6 min.

Pour over the oat mixture and toss to coat all of the oats and fruit. Pour into the prepared pan. Gently press the oat mixture evenly into the pan.

Bake for about 20 to 25 min. Remove, let cool for about 10 min. Cut the granola into squares and the remove from the pan. Eat right away and think of all those days at camp where you ate granola until it was coming out of your ears.

Time to get Dirty!!!