Yum

I've been making these granola bars way too much lately, but I'm pretty sure I'll never be sick of them. Found them over at Smitten Kitchen. These are so delicious, and probably healthier than packaged granola. Not so sure how healthy it is to eat the entire batch though - I totally could.

Granola Bars

Makes 12 to 16 bars

2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ (I used 1/4 cup ground flax seed)
2/3 cup honey
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (good, but I used regular salt, too)
1 1/2 cup dried fruit, or a mix of dried fruit (I used chopped apricots, cranberries and blueberries - sometimes cherries, too)
OPTIONAL
1/4 cup brown sugar (I didn't use, still pretty sweet)
3 tablespoons melted butter ( I tried and it didn't stick together as well as it should - don't use butter now)
3 or 4 tablespoons peanut butter (I just tried natural chunky pb on my last batch. Not good at first, but delicious after freezing!)

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Butter an 8×12-inch baking dish (lacking this, I used a 9×13-inch) and line it with parchment paper.

Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ or flax seed. Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F.

While the mixture is still warm, stir in the honey, vanilla and salt until the mixture is well coated, then the dried fruit. Pour the mixture into your prepared baking dish andpress, press, press it in (wet fingers and/or a silicon spatula work great for this) until the mixture is packed as tightly as possible.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares — your best serrated knife is great for this.

You can store these in an airtight container at room temperature for a week or two, as you would cookies, however, I prefer to store mine in the freezer. I find that they stay the most crisp this way as all granola tends to soften at room temperature after a day or more.