Healthy & Homemade

This past summer, when Wyet and I were at our peak of being great outdoors-men, I was constantly buying snacks to take on our hikes; in particular, granola bars. Granola bars were perfect for hiking days because they would supply us with the energy we needed, and they were easy enough to hurry and grab on the go. However, we began to notice these little energizers were overpriced and not as healthy as we had hoped. Thus, we forwent the store bought bars and started making our own.

When I started making granola bars, I either used recipes given to me by friends or by searching for recipes online. I soon discovered that I liked bits and pieces from different recipes so I started making my own compilation of ingredients. The great thing about doing this is that every time I make granola bars, they vary.

I hadn't made granola bars since our last days of hiking this past fall, but Wyet kept insisting that he wanted some so I decided to make a batch this morning. Unfortunately for us, I have the memory of a gnat and couldn't remember how I used to make our delicious bars so I had to start from scratch. The granola bars I made this morning {while not the same as before} turned out nicely. To avoid this forgetfulness in the future, I decided to document this little recipe:

Ingredients:
2 cups oats
3/4 cup ground flax seed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup crushed almonds
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl and all moist ingredients in another. Combine the wet mixture to the dry mixture, and then press into a parchment lined baking dish. Bake for twenty minutes and let cool. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

In the past, I have also added chocolate chips, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds or a variety of other nuts in addition to the almonds. Rather than coconut oil, I have also used applesauce. Basically, I use whatever the hell I have on hand, and they always seem to turn out decent. Happy baking!