Granola Bars

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cups rolled oats (aka oatmeal)
• 1/3 cup oat flour (if your pantry doesnt contain this, just blitz oatmeal until its reduced to a floury powder)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Pinch cinnamon
• Pinch cardamom
• Pinch nutmeg
• 2-3 cups dried fruits, nuts, seeds or grains of your choosing (walnuts, almonds, cashews, pecans, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, raisins, prunes, dried apricots, currants, flax seeds, ground flax meal, etc etc etc)
• 6 Tbsp coconut oil (substitute butter if desired)
• 1/3 cup almond butter (or peanut butter)
• 4-6 Tbsp honey (depending on your sweet tooth and honey availability)
• 1 Tbsp water

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

If your nuts arent toasted, you can toast them in the oven while youre assembling the other ingredients (this step may sound fussy, but the depth of flavor you get is totally worth itjust make sure you dont forget and burn everything).

Mix together all of the dry ingredients (including sugar) in a large bowl, and set aside. Line an 8 square pan with parchment, if you have it, or just grease the pan well and hope for the best. Set aside.

Place the coconut oil in a saucepan, and warm over a low heat until it melts (this wont take long). Add the almond butter, honey, and water, let sit for a moment to warm and loosen, and then mix until well combined. Pour this syrupy mixture over your dry ingredients, and stir until well combined. Pour the combined dough into your pan, and press it down firmly to compact it evenly. Place in the oven and bake 30-45 minutes, until the edges and top are lightly browned (if you like your bars chewy take them out as soon as this browning happens, when the bars seem barely set; for crisper bars wait until they are well-browned). Let the pan of uncut bars cool to room temperature, then move them to the refrigerator until they are fully chilled (45 minutes). Remove the bars from the pan, and cut them into shapes of your choosing. Store at room temperature in a covered container, or in the refrigerator if the weathers hot and humid. They also freeze beautifully.