Pinterest Finds: Homemade Granola Bars

Oh Pinterest, for every thousand posts on wedding dresses there's a few on wonderful recipes. That's how I got the idea for homemade granola bars. Why buy a box when it's so easy to make your own? I used an amalgamation of recipes from Smitten Kitchen, Good Life Eats' great formula, and Ina Garten's idea to toast the coconut and almonds. I used almond butter as my binder and agave nectar as my sweetener, though next time I'd throw in a bit of butter to make the bars more moist. In addition to almonds, oats, ground flax seed, and coconut flakes, I chopped up some dates, threw in some dried cherries, and golden raisins. I don't have a food processor, so instead of doing oat flour, I subbed some garbanzo bean flour I had on hand.

I'll admit, this recipe isn't exact, but as long as you follow the basic ratios outlined in the above formula, you'll be fine. That's the great thing about making your own granola bars--(mostly) anything goes!

1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats (I used Bob's Red Mill on sale from Ocean State Job Lot)
1/3 Garbanzo bean flour

1 C chopped toasted almonds
1/2 C ground flaxseed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 to 3 cups dried fruits. (Mine might have been closer to four)

1/4 C agave nectar
1 tablespoon water

I baked mine at 350 for 30 minutes according to Smitten Kitchen, but they came out a little well done and more crumbly than I would have liked. Next time, I'll try 325 for 25 minutes. I ended up with enough crumbles for a nice bowl of granola though!