Baked Granola Bars

Making your own granola bars is such a simple way you can add a snack or quick breakfast meal to your busy schedule. Instead of turning to the alternative “store bought” version, give these a go! In under 30 minutes, you will have an amazing healthy-wholesome bar for each day of the week, leaving you an extra bar to share with a friend.

Yields 8 bars 

Ingredients

2 cups rolled cooking oats

1/2 cup raw unsalted almonds

1/4 pumpkin seeds, shelled or unshelled

1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

1/2  Vitacost pure maple syrup

3 Tbsp. Earths Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1/4 tsp. Vitacost Himalayan Pink Fine Salt

1/2 cup dried cranberries  or 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Line a 9” square baking pan with parchment paper and lightly spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
3. In a bowl, add all ingredients together and mix until oats have soaked up some of the moisture from the maple syrup and butter, pour mixture into the lined pan.
4. Press granola down so that it is evenly spread across the pan.
5. Bake for 25 minutes until it is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before removing bars and slicing. This way you can get nicely cut bars while they are semi-soft before they fully harden.
6. You can place the granola bars into the refrigerator and store in an airtight container for later or you can enjoy them on top of your yogurt or alone as a snack.

Chef’s tip: Make sure that you use parchment paper so that you can pull the baked outs out of the pan.