Ooey Gooey Granola Bars

I admit it. I am not perfect. There, I said it. Whew, that was hard. I strive for perfection in the kitchen. I love reading recipes and making a mess of my kitchen in order to create these culinary delights. I have been meaning to try making my own granola bars for a long time. Since I work out in the morning I like to eat a little bite before I sweat myself away. I am constantly buying granola bars like I buy boxes of cereal. I am still shocked I haven't found the man of my dreams waiting for me in the breakfast aisle. But, why not try and save a buck or two and create my own bars? I found a recipe on The Larissa Monologues and thought it sounded like a great place to start. I measured out the oats and placed them in the oven. Then I measure out the honey, sugar and peanut butter and got that melting on the stove. And then I got distracted and when the oats were nicely toasted I immediately added them to the peanut butter mixture like the recipe calls for and then spread it in my prepared pan. Too bad I forgot the vanilla, salt and any mix ins that I wanted. Doh! I couldn’t believe what I had just done. The good news is that these bars still taste fantastic. I bet with salt and vanilla they would be even better. Without any of the mix ins like dried fruit or nuts, I recommend halving the peanut butter mixture as these bars are a bit on the sticky side. The next batch is going to have dried cherries and mini chocolate chips just to spice it up a bit. Mary Poppins was only “practically perfect in every way” so I guess it isn’t such a bad thing to err on occasion. Especially when a delicious accident is born.

Granola Bars
From Larissa

2 cups oats
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups dried fruit, chopped

Butter a 9x9-inch baking dish and line it with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread oats onto a sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally. In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, peanut butter, vanilla and salt in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until combined. Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and immediately add it into the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish. Cool completely and cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.