Peanut Butter Granola Bars

In my never ending quest to make things from scratch that are healthy for Sam to have in his lunches, I went on the search for a good granola bar recipe.  I started with a basic recipe off of the food network site and then altered to Sam's unique needs.

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup farina

1 cup peanuts

1/2 cup freeze dried bananas, ground into powder

3 T unsalted butter

2/3 cup agave nectar

1/3 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/4 t salt

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Toast oats in the oven on a baking sheet for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.  Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add wheat germ, farina, peanuts, and bananas.

2.  Reduce oven temp to 300 F.  Line a 9x13 pan with foil or parchment paper and spray with spray oil.

3.  Place butter, honey, brown sugar, peanut butter, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the oatmeal mixture.  Stir well.

4.  Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.  Press the mixture evenly into the pan.  Bake for 25 minutes, until light golden brown.  Cool for at least 2-3 hours before cutting into squares.  

5.  Enjoy!

Mixture before I put it into pan.

Mixture in the pan before baking.

Finished product!

This recipe would be so easy to adjust to your needs.  Change the grains.  I used what I had on hand.  Add chocolate chips.  Change your nuts.  Add dried fruits like raisins, cranberries or apricots.  Don't add peanut butter.  The sky's the limit!