Homemade Granola Bars - Whole Foods

3/4 cup dried berries
3/4 cup raisins
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
½ cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
½ cup honey or agave syrup or combination of the two
3 tablespoons coconut oil
¼ cup brown sugar, packed (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix together and set aside the dried berries and raisins. Measure out and pour onto a parchment lined cookie sheet the oats, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and coconut flakes. Toast in the oven for 10-12 minutes stirring from time to time. Make sure not to over-toast-–using the coconut as a guide. It should be just browned, not dark brown. Remove the toasted oat mixture. Reduce the oven to 300 degrees. Meanwhile, combine the honey/agave syrup, cocnut oil, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook until the sugar dissolves. Mix together the toasted mixture, the dried berries and the flax seeds. Add in and stir to combine the warm syrup and the dry mixture. Put it into a parchment lined baking dish—about 8x11.5 inches. Spread it out, place another piece of parchment on top and press down with your hands to compress the granola evenly into the pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan. I mean absolutely, positively, completely cool—a few hours. Cut into bars. These will keep in an airtight container for about a week—if you don’t eat them all first.

Serving Size: Makes 30 Granola Bars

Number of Servings: 30

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user MAOF4GRLS.