Granola Bars

I originally posted this recipe back in May before our house was going gluten free. I never did get a picture posted and so now that I have made a gluten free version I decided it needed a picture!

Ingredients
41/2 Cups Rolled Oats (use GF Oats if you are sensitive to Oats)
1 Cup Ground Flax Seed, Hemp Protein (I'm sure you could substitute other unflavoured/mild flavoured protein, I just find this one works well) & GF All Purpose Flour (About a 1/2, 1/4, 1/4 ratio)
1 Tsp. Xanthan Gum
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
5 Tbsp. Brown Sugar (not packed)
2/3 Cup Oil
1/2 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Molasses
2/3 Cup Applesauce, Heaping
2 1/4 Cups Raisins, Chocolate Chips, Nuts, Seeds, Berries etc.

Preheat oven to 325 F. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan.
Mix together first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Mix together liquid ingredients in a small bowl and then mix into the dry. Add the 2 1/4 cups of extras. I usually do a mix of raisins, sunflower seeds, walnuts and a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips. But mix it up! Dried cranberries, dates, almonds etc. they will all taste wonderful!
Pour into pan, and press down or if you have a small rolling pin roll it down. Bake for 10 minutes, re-roll it down (or push it down), and bake for another 5-10 minutes, just until the edges start to brown. Let cool completely and cut into bars with a sharp knife.

I wrap them individually in plastic wrap and then place them in a freezer bag and pull them out one at a time for lunches.

These are slightly more moist then the original recipe, but the only problem with that is a few sticky fingers. They hold together beautifully and taste even better! Plus they have more of a protein content then the original recipe due to the hemp protein and the GF all purpose flour has more protein then regular flour as well.

Granola Bars

For my first real post I thought I would start with what seems to be a very popular favourite recipe. Granola Bars that will make you gag at the thought of a prepackaged foil wrapped cardboard bar!
This originally started as a completely different recipe and I broke it down to the oats and flour and rebuilt it. So I feel like I can call it my own personal recipe :)

41/2 Cups Rolled Oats
1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1/8 Cup Ground Flax Seed (Substitute flour if you don't have this)
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
5 Tbsp. Brown Sugar (not packed)
1 Tsp. Vanilla
2/3 Cup Oil
1/2 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Molasses (Scant)
1/3 Cup Applesauce (Heaping)
2 Cups Raisins, Chocolate Chips, Nuts, Seeds, Berries etc.

Preheat oven to 325 F. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan.
Mix together first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Mix together liquid ingredients in a small bowl and then mix into the dry. Add the 2 cups of extras. I usually do a mix of raisins, sunflower seeds, walnuts and a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips. But mix it up! Dried cranberries, dates, almonds etc. they will all taste wonderful!
Pour into pan, and press down or if you have a small rolling pin roll it down. Bake for 10 minutes, re-roll it down (or push it down), and bake for another 5-10 minutes, just until the edges start to brown. Let cool for 5 minutes and cut into bars with a sharp knife. Let cool completely before removing from pan.

I wrap them individually in plastic wrap and then place them in a freezer bag and pull them out one at a time for lunches.

Enjoy! And beware that once you make these you may find yourself becoming quite snobby towards store bought granola bars!