Cherry Granola Bars

This might be the last cherry recipe. (It is time to move on to Apples!) These granola bars are one of our favorite snacks and seem to fit in with the fall-ish weather. I used dried cherries that Mandy dried in her dehydrator. Fabulous!

Granola Bars

2 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

3/4 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup honey or maple sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted or vegetable oil

1/2 cup chopped or ground nuts (Almonds for this batch!)

3/4 cup dried fruit (Cherries and chocolate chips!)

Mix oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon, dried fruit and nuts in a large bowl. Melt coconut oil in small bowl and mix in honey or syrup, egg and vanilla extract. Pour liquid mixture into dry and mix thoroughly. Pat into 9 x 13 pan and bake 28 minutes at 350.

We discovered we like thick granola bars, this also makes them more moist, so we double the recipe, but still make it in the 9 x 13 pan. 

Last summer when we didn't have a stove, a friend shared some freshly baked bars with us. I remember smelling them and thinking I had gone to heaven! I couldn't wait to get into my new kitchen and start baking!

This is a recipe that just cries out for experimentation and imagination! Think of all the combinations you can make! Dried cranberries and chocolate chips, raisins and walnuts, cherries and almonds, we have even done tropical bars with coconut and pineapple! Yum!