Granola bars: It's all about oats

This morning I woke up with a goal: making something to snack.
As an oat-lover, I decided to use oats.

I'm used to have oats as my basic oatmeal ingrediënt (doh!) and in granola.
Because I like my granola very much (have to post my recipe here asap), the idea of granola-'cookie' inspired me.

So I made my own granola bars/cookies.


I'm happy with the result!
It also was the first time I used peanut butter.
Always have been afraid of it, don't ask me why. But I'm happy I finally discovered it, thanks to you guys!

I still don't understand the habit of putting a spoonful of peanut butter in oatmeal. But maybe I have to try it one day.

The recipe.

Peanut Butter Granola Bars
Adapted from Ellie Won

Ingredients:

- 320g rolled oats
- 1/3 cup plain flour
- 100 ml canola oil
- 200g mild honey (I used a mixture of 100g honey and 100g agave syrup)
- 50g brown sugar
- 2-3 tbsp smooth peanut butter
- 40g desiccated coconut
- 150-200g of assorted nuts and seeds (pepitas, sunflower seeds, pecans and almonds)
- 150-200g assorted dried fruit (apricots, sultanas, cranberries)


Method:

1. Preheat oven to 150°C.

2. Roughly chop the nuts and larger pieces of dried fruit into smaller pieces (about the same size as a sultana raisin). Then place the chopped nuts and fruit into a bowl with the oats, seeds, coconut and flour and stir together with a wooden spoon till well combined.


3. Heat the honey in a pan on your stovetop till it is liquid, then add the sugar, peanut butter and oil and whisk together till everything has melted.


4. Pour together the wet and dry mixture and stir together till evenly combined, then place into a lined tin or a plate with parchment paper. Wet your hands with some cold water, and using both the wooden spoon and your hands, pack the mixture down flat, making sure to get it into the corners.


5. Bake for 30-40 minutes if you prefer a softer, chewier muesli bar, and up to 50-60 minutes if you prefer a crunchier one. During the baking process, to help hold it together, use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to squish down/compact the baking mixture every 10-15 minutes or so (not sure if it actually helps, but I did it anyway).

6. Once baked, remove from the oven and use a hot oiled knife to mark the bars in the tin (the mixture will fall apart if you remove it from the tin while hot!). Allow to cool for about 15-20 minutes, then carefully remove from the tin to your chopping board and cut the bars apart. I cut my cookies out with a round cookie cutter. It wasn't that easy, you loose a lot of baked stuff, but I filled a box with those pieces. Great snacks!



7. Enjoy!