Granola Bars

A long family outing through Pacific Spirit Park out to UBC led to a serendipitous discovery. I was feeling a mite faint from the heat and exertion, and I needed a little sustenance to tide me over until lunch.

Seeing a selection of granola bars on display at the coffee shop we stopped by, I was inspired to make a homemade granola bar that was tailor-made for my family. Later in the day, when I returned home, I rummaged through the pantry, hauling out random ingredients that I thought would create a balanced mélange of flavours.

Feel free to experiment and come up with your own combinations, to match your tastes or dietary restrictions. Next time, we might try canola oil instead of melted margarine, or use currants instead of chocolate chips. This batch turned out pretty crunchy and sweet, but not too sweet.

• 4 cups oats
• 2 cups toasted wheat germ
• 2/3 cup roasted, salted, sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup flax meal
• 1/2 cup dessicated coconut
• 2 cups mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 4 tablespoons margarine, melted
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1 cup honey

Preheat the oven to 300 F. Combine the dry ingredients. Mix together the margarine, molasses and honey.

Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and stir well. Spread it out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Form into a rectangle with your hands. Put into the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Take out the pan, and score with a knife to help separate the bars later on. Return the pan to the oven for another 15 minutes.

Cool for 10 minutes before breaking or cutting apart the bars.

Here are some other ingredient ideas: dried blueberries, currants, dried cranberries, chopped hazelnuts, chopped almonds, pumpkin seeds, chopped chocolate, applesauce, cinnamon, ground ginger. Hazelnuts and chopped chocolate? Mmmm! Go have fun.