Chewy Granola Bars

We had some leftover raisin filling that we made for raisin filled cookies. I wanted to use it for something else so I decided to put it in granola bars. So, I found this recipe online. You can use whatever dried fruits or nuts you like. All we had on hand was dried papaya, chocolate chips, and almonds. If we didn’t use the raisin filling I would have just put raisins in it also.

Anyway, I think it turned out excellent. So I wanted to share the recipe with everybody. I think they taste better than cookies. Very moist and chewy and sweet. I think if all you had was chocolate chips and raisins it would still taste just as good. I wanted to put some coconut in it also but we didn’t find in our pantry.

We didn’t want to bother with grinding the oats in the food processor to use as oat flour so we just used Scottish oats instead. It seems to have worked out well.

It’s fairly easy to make, so give it try.

Chewy Granola Bars

3 1/3 cups quick rolled oats
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup oat flour (grind oats in food processor to make oat flour)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 to 6 cups dried fruits and nuts* [we used 2 cups dried papaya, 2 cups chocolate chips, 1 cup whole almonds]
2/3 cup peanut butter or almond butter (optional)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 sticks (¾ cup) melted butter
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 Tablespoons water

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a large 10 x 14 glass pan with parchment paper.

Stir together all the dry ingredients, including the fruit and nuts. In a separate bowl, melt butter with peanut butter in microwave remove from microwave and add honey, corn syrup, water, and vanilla. Stir together well.
Toss the wet ingredients with the dry until the mixture is evenly crumbly. Spread in the prepared pan, pressing them in firmly to ensure they are molded to the shape of the pan. (A piece of plastic wrap can help with this, as you press down on the back of it.) [we spread half of the mixture in pan and pressed down then topped with raisin filling mixture which we had left over from making raisin filled cookies, then topped with the rest of the mixture and pressed down.]

Bake the bars for 30 to 40 minutes, until they’re brown around the edges — don’t be afraid to get a little color on the tops too. They’ll still seem soft and almost underbaked when you press into the center of the pan but do not worry, they’ll set completely once completely cool.

Cool the bars in their pan completely on a cooling rack. (Alternately, after about 20 minutes you can use your parchment “sling” to lift and remove the bars, and place them in their paper on the rack to cool the rest of the way. This can speed the process up.)

Once cool, use a serrated knife to cut the bars into squares. If bars seem crumbly, chill them in the pan in the fridge for 30 minutes which will fully set the “glue”, then cut them cold. To store, wrap the bars individually in plastic or stack them in an airtight container. In humid weather, it’s best to store bars in the refrigerator. They also freeze well.

*Suggestions: Dried cherries, blueberries, papaya, cranberries, apricots, pecans, peanuts, coconut, almonds, raisins, dried apples or even chocolate chips.

If anyone is interested in recipe for raisin filling, I will post it. But I think adding raisins would be easier and taste just as good.

Raisin Filling
4 ½ cups (1 ½ lbs) raisins
2 cups sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups water
½ cup flour

Directions
Raisin Mixture:
1. Soak raisins in hot water.
2. When plump and soft, drain water and grind.
3. Put in saucepan and add sugar, salt, and water.
4. Mix the flour with just enough water to make smooth paste, then add to raisin mixture.
5. Let come to boil, then set off to cool.

If you use this recipe for raisin filling you would probably want to half it or quarter it.