Chewy Granola Bars

Contributed by April Grow. Check her out at:

http://www.ourfoodstorage.com/

Click on the link below for the complete post done by April:

http://www.ourfoodstorage.com/2010/02/23/chewy-granola-bars/

or here is recipe:

Chewy Granola Bars
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour (I 100% promise no one will taste it. This is your chance to slip in some extra nutrition)
¾ cup dried fruit (craisins, raisins, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, mangoes, apples, etc.)
½ cup flax seeds, flax meal or wheat germ
½ cup crispy rice or your choice of nuts
1 tsp salt (I love sweet and salty. If you don’t, cut it down to ½ tsp)
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ cup brown sugar

½ cup canola oil
½ cup honey
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°.
Spray a 9×13 pan with Pam, or double the recipe and put on a jelly roll pan.
In a large bowl, stir together oats, flour, brown sugar, dried fruit, flax seeds, salt, cinnamon, and crispy rice/nuts.
In a liquid measuring cup or bowl, thoroughly blend oil, honey, and vanilla; pour into oat mixture, and mix with spoon until the mixture is evenly coated.
Press evenly into the prepared baking pan.
Bake 25-30 minutes in the oven (it will still be very soft coming out of the oven).
Cool completely in pan before turning out onto a cutting board and cutting into bars.

*If you turn it out while it’s warm, the mixture will fall apart, and you’ll get granola, or very misshapen bars.