Homemade Granola Bars

HOMEMADE GRANOLA BARS #1 (complements of http://www.spinachandhoney.com)
These bars use no refined white sugar and no white flour. The most important part about making any homemade granola bar is that you know what is in them. Granola bars are also a great way to feed kids nuts. Mikey can easily eat half of the picture above in one day. He loves these things! We've even nicknamed them, "Mikey Bars." I would never let him eat that many packaged granola bars.

I have made this recipe with and without soaking the oats and nuts and it's good either way. Read how to soak oats here and nuts here. If I use the nuts within three days, I don't dry them, but if I am drying the oats, I'll throw the nuts on the cookie pan too. Again, you can skip this step, it makes little difference to the taste but is much healthier for the body.

1 cup rolled oats (soaking is optional) – see below
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) melted butter
1/4 cup finely chopped nuts any combination of almonds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, or walnuts (soaking is optional) – see below
1/3 cup milk or water (only use when soaking and drying oats, do not double)

If I soaked the oats and nuts overnight, I dry them in a 300 degree oven for about an hour or until the oats are crisp again. If I soak and dry a lot of oats it can take a lot longer. Some people use a dehydrator. I flip the oats and crumble them with my fingers a couple times during the process. I always turn off the oven when I leave the house. It doesn't hurt them to dry them some and then let them sit for a bit. I have also made this recipe with the soaked but not dried oats and nuts. It made for a more moist bar and I definitely don't use the 1/3 cup milk.

Mix with oats, 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour, 1/4 cup finely chopped mixed nuts or processed in a food processor for a very fine chop, 3 tablespoons honey, 1/4 cup melted butter, and 1/3 cup milk if I soaked and dried my oats.

Butter an 8x8 square baking dish or something similar.

Pour mixture evenly into the dish and spread flat.

Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until the sides turn golden brown and pull away from the edges of the baking dish.

Let cool on the counter before cutting bars.

These bars help us avoid processed snack food. Enjoy!

HOMEMADE GRANOLA BARS #2 (http://www.spinachandhoney.com)
1 cup rolled oats (soaked and dried)
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
1/4 cup spelt flour
1 cup almonds (soaked and dried)
1 1/2 cups dried fruit (apricots, dates, and raisins)
1 tablespoon flax seed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
Homemade granola bars are surprisingly easy to make.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
I butter two 2.75 quart baking dishes because that's what I own, but one larger baking dish would be less washing afterward. I want the mixture to be about an inch thick.
Toast wheat germ in a frying pan until golden brown. While that is toasting, put all the ingredients except the syrup, vanilla, and eggs into a food processor. I use whatever dried fruit that I have on hand. I normally always have apricots, dates, and raisins. I also use whatever nuts that I have on hand. I just soaked and dried a ton of almonds so I used almonds in this recipe. Add the wheat germ and pulse the food processor until the ingredients are corsly crumbled.
Then add the syrup, vanilla, and eggs. Pulse a few more times until incorporated into the mix. Pour into the baking dish(es) and spread evenly. Cook uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the bars are hard and bounce back when poked with a finger. Cut the bars into squares or rectangles and store in the refrigerator. No need to double this recipe, it makes 12 to 16 bars depending on how I cut them.



SOAKING OATS:
I soak and then dry my rolled oats for making granola bars like these here and granola breakfast cereal. Read here for more info on why I like to soak my oats.

I don't have a dehydrator so I use my oven. I can't do huge batches because to dry the oats they have to be spread on one layer like the picture. I sometimes do two or three cookie sheets but I learned the hard way never to over populate the cookie sheet. Here is the process.

1 cup oats
2 tablespoons yogurt or lemon juice
2 cups water
butter for cookie sheet
salt to taste

Pour the oats, yogurt (or lemon juice), and water in a bowl. Cover and let sit on the countertop overnight. Lightly butter a cookie sheet and preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Drain the oats in a colander and run water over them. I mix them around with my fingers to rinse off the yogurt. Spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet and lightly salt. Put in the oven for an hour or until the oats are dry. Mix them around and fold them over halfway through the drying time. Now they're ready for bars or granola cereal.

Without processed snack food in the house, we eat nuts and seeds quite often, maybe every day. I make granola bars with them for Mikey. I soak our nuts and seeds overnight before eating them.

SOAKING NUTS AND SEEDS
Here are two reasons to soak your nuts and seeds:
1) Unsoaked raw nuts and seeds have enzyme inhibitors, our bodies need enzymes, so we don't want to eat enzyme inhibitors.
2) Unsoaked raw nuts and seeds contain phytic acid which is indigestible and bonds with minerals in the digestive tract, leeching them out of the body and possibly causing mineral deficiencies.

The drying part of the process is to preserve the nuts and seeds and make them taste good. Drying the nuts and seeds preserves them for about four months. When I use them in a recipe within three days of soaking, I skip the drying.

1 cup raw nuts and seeds (ex. almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds, and pumpkin seeds)
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt

Cover the nuts and seeds with water and stir in salt. This is how to partially sprout seeds before eating, which decreases the enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid. Soak for a minimum of 7 hours. Drain and rinse in a colander. Spread on a baking pan and put in a 150 degree oven or a dehydrator for 12 to 24 hours.

Read more about soaking nuts and seeds:

http://www.avenaoriginals.com/library/recipe_display.asp?a=Soaking_Nuts_and_Seeds
http://anniecrawford.com/2006/03/22/404/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nut_%28fruit%29