granola bars!!

i don't need to say much about my love for ina garten. because well, it's been talked about. knowing this about me, it's probably no surprise that even without cable in my apt i make sure that i get my barefoot contessa fix through using hulu and timing my work outs to catch airings at the gym (ok..i've actually only done this twice).

homegirl made granola bars the other day and i couldn't stop thinking about them.

maybe it's the training, maybe it's my love for ina, or maybe just that i'm a fatty...but i decided i NEEDED to make those granola bars.

i used this recipe but made a few changes. first off, i double it because at the time it seemed like a good idea? now i have enough granola bars for the rest of the year. whoopsies.

i also substituted chia seeds for wheat germ because i didn't have any (and chia seeds are sooo trendy/the new flax seed, duh.)

What I used:

- 4 cups rolled oats

- 2 cups sliced almonds

- 2 cups coconut

- 6 tbsp butter

- 2/3 cup honey [i forgot to double this :( ]

- 1/2 c light brown sugar

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1 cup each dried apricots (chopped), cherries (cut in halves), and cranberries

- 1 cup chia seeds

toasted the almonds, coconut and oats at 320 for about 10 mins

while the ingredients were toasting..the butter, sugar, salt, honey and vanilla were mix together on the stove over medium heat.

the dried fruit! i got these bags for about $2 each at my new fav store aldi's.

all of the ingredients were mixed together and put into a foil-lined half sheet pan. this is what it looked like before baking in the oven at 300 for 25 minutes.

after baking and three hours of cooling...voila.

cutting them got messy :(

beauuuuuuuty shot.

when life gives you crumbs from cutting granola bars, you make a baggy labeled "granola" and throw it in there!

ok, so they weren't as chewy as i expected... probably because i used half the honey i was supposed to. but they still weren't horribly crumby and got better after being in ziploc baggies for a little bit. the other issue are the chia seeds. they keep getting stuck in my teeth. and then they get slimey...and meh. so maybe next time i'll grind up the chia seeds? idk

but overall...sooooo goood. i love the almonds and coconut in it. i'll defintely make my granola from now on. 

if you want to try some let me know (with a comment! hehe)