The MOST PERFECT Granola Bar, ever. (Fruit and Nut Edition)

I enjoy the idea of healthy AND delicious foods.  Especially healthy and delicious foods that you can eat on the go. 

I've tried a lot of granola bars, some are good (KIND bars), some are not (Chewy Bars) IMO! I decided to take what I love most about granola bars and make my own.  I hope some day to be stuffing my son's lunch bag full of delicious non-processed snacks like these when he hits school age.  Honestly, it only takes about a half hour of time and the result beats anything that you can buy in a store.  You can freeze these bars in snack size ziplock bags and throw them into your lunch bag/purse when you're on the go.

You need a large baking pan for this, about an 1" deep.  The biggest one you have.  I should measure mine.  This recipe yields a lot of bars.  I don't know the serving size... maybe 30?  :)

Ingredients:
-3 cups of quick oats (I use organic)
-1 cup of cashews
-1 cup of pepitas
-1 cup of walnuts
-1 cup of pecans
-1 cup of sliced almonds
-1 cup of flax seed
-1 cup of dried cherries (try to get your dried fruit UNsweetened, Trader Joe's is good for this)
-1 cup of dried raspberries  (or any dried fruit of your choice)
- 1 cup of dried cranberries
-2 cups of shredded unsweetened coconut
-2 eggs
-1 cup of sweetener of your choice (may be brown rice syrup, honey, corn syrup, brown sugar, raw sugar, agave, whatever you like, I used brown sugar).


Directions:
- Mix everything
-Line your pan with parchment paper (NOT NOT NOT WAX PAPER)!
-Pour ingredients into pan and smash down into pan (you may want to use a rolling pin with wax or parchment paper to compress all ingredients into the pan).
-Bake in oven at 275 for 15-25 minutes (check on them to see how crispy you want them, that will effect your cook time).
-Let COOL
-Cut with a really sharp knife into portions that you like.
-Used the left over crumbs as granola on your yogurt in the morning!
-Enjoy

mix

smush in pan

bake