Sweet and Salty Homemade Granola Bars

I wanted to make a tasty and healthy snack for my kids lunches this week so I went in search of a good granola bar recipe. I found this one on The Green Nut site that looked delicious. These granola bars were filled with oats, coconut, pistachio nuts, sunflower seeds, dried apricots, and craisins. They were very simple to make and smelled delicious while baking. I love that these bars use up ingredients I have in my pantry and that they aren't filled with a bunch of preservatives. My kids really loved these granola bars and asked me to make more - you can't beat that.

Sweet and Salty Homemade Granola Bars:

Adapted recipe by For the Love of Cooking.net

Original recipe from The Green Nut

• 1 cup of oats
• 1/2 cup of sweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup of salted pistachios
• 2 tbsp of salted sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup of dried apricots, diced
• 1/4 cup of craisins
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/3 cup of honey
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the oats and coconut on a baking sheet that has been lined with a silpat mat or parchment paper. Place into the oven and bake for 6-7 minutes or until the coconut and oats are toasted golden brown.

Pour the oat/coconut mixture into a bowl and add the pistachios, sunflower seeds, apricots, and craisins.

Place the butter, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla in a small pan and and bring to a boil. Boil for 30 seconds. Pour the honey mixture over the granola mixture and stir until evenly coated.

Coat a square baking dish with cooking spray then pour the granola mixture into it. Press the mixture firmly into the baking dish using the base of a metal measuring cup.

Place into the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Carefully slice into bars and let cool for another 10 minutes. Enjoy.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe - For the Love of Cooking.net