Recipe for granola bars??

To answer my own post, I just found this recipe online. I'm not a cook but it looks easy enough. I would leave out the coconut and probably the almonds and would add golden raisins. It said that they pack well and are good for road trips.

I'll let you know how they turn out!

INGREDIENTS
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
In a large bowl, mix together the oats, sweetened condensed milk, butter, coconut, almonds, chocolate chips and cranberries with your hands until well blended. Press flat into the prepared pan.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, depending on how crunchy you want them. Lightly browned just around the edges will give you moist, chewy bars. Let cool for 5 minutes, cut into squares then let cool completely before serving.

[This message has been edited by Adele (edited February 10, 2007).]

There are links to 2 recipes in this thread.

[url="http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/Forum15/HTML/000703.html"]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/Forum15/HTML/000703.html[/url]

I bought the ingredients for the granola bars and made them this afternoon.

They're pretty crumbly but they're still warm so I'm hoping that a few hours in the frig will firm them up. I added up the calories of all the ingredients. If you make 20 bars, that's 240 calories each, but when I cut mine into 20, each bar is pretty small.

I left out the coconut and the almonds and added sultanas (golden raisins).

If I make them again, I'll leave out the chocolate chips and substitute something else. The chips along with the sweetened condensed milk make them too sweet.

Chewy Granola Bars (OK FOR BRIAN)
These worked well. Reprinted from recipesource.com. Recipe By : Sue Klapper
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter or margarine -- softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt/
1-1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1-1/4 cups crispy rice cereal
1 cup nuts - chopped
1 cup raisins (optional)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars.
Add honey, vanilla and egg and mix well.
Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture. Stir in oats, cereal
and nuts. Add raisins or chips if desired.
Press into a greased 9 x 13 pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. Cool completely. Cut, but do not separate. Chill in fridge, then, recutting if necessary, separate and put in airtight container.
Source: Taste of Home Magazine: June/July 1995.

Thanks BriandBriasmom (did I get that right?) for the recipe.

I'll try yours next! My recipe tasted OK but by the time they cooled I could have used dynamite to get them out of the pan. But on the other hand, they stick together well!

I made the granola bars that I mentioned at the beginning of this thread. I left out the coconut and the almonds, and added raisins and dried cranberries. I was a little leary about them as they seemed too sweet for my taste.

I took them with me on a trip and they were great. I wrapped them individually in wax paper. I had some in my suitcase and others in my carryon. They didn't fall apart and tasted great two weeks later.

I leave on another trip in a few days so will definitely make another batch....but this time I"ll use fewer chocolate chips (or none at all) and add more dried fruit.
I'm so glad I had them with me as the weather was nasty - resulting in an unplanned 8 hours in Nashville.

Good recipe. I recommend it - especially for traveling!
They freeze well too.

INGREDIENTS
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
In a large bowl, mix together the oats, sweetened condensed milk, butter, coconut, almonds, chocolate chips and cranberries with your hands until well blended. Press flat into the prepared pan.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, depending on how crunchy you want them. Lightly browned just around the edges will give you moist, chewy bars. Let cool for 5 minutes, cut into squares then let cool completely before serving.

I just made another batch of granola bars - this time I just lined the pan with parchment paper and they popped right out of the pan. I only used 1/3 cup of chocolate chips and added Sunmaid Fruitbits (raisins, golden raisins, dried appricots, dried apples, dried peaches & dried cherries).
I didn't use almonds the first time, but for this batch I added about 1/2 cup of Blue Diamond Almonds (chopped)
Forgot to add the David sunflower seeds. Next time!

Wow! I'm no cook, but the second batch turned out great!