During the last week of summer I stocked up our shelves with breakfast items for my brother and I to eat every morning at 6:25. Way to early to make something but it is always nicer to head out the door with something delicious and homemade. I had been volunteering at the local library and in my spare time and checked out a bunch of cookbooks. Two of them I later ended up buying and the Barefoot Contessa one was just because of this recipe I tried. I love it. I have made it twice now and can’t wait to make more!
These granola bars have tons of ingredients which I normally try to avoid, and they have a bunch of smaller steps but in the end they are totally worth it. You can find the recipe in he Back to the Basics book which has a ton of recipes I want to make!
Homemade Granola Bars
{The Barefoot Contessa’s Recipe}
2 cups old fashioned oatmeal
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 toasted wheat germ
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup honey
1/4 light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 chopped & pitted dates
1/2 chopped, dried apricots
1/2 dried cranberries
Preheat oven to 350 and line a 8 x 12 pan with parchment. Toast oatmeal, almonds, & coconut on a sheet pan for 15 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and add wheat germ. 
Reduce oven temperature to 300. Boil honey, butter, brown sugar, and vanilla in a sauce pan over medium heat. Poor over oatmeal mixture and combine. 
Add apricots, cranberries and dates. Stir well. Place mixture in pan spreading out evenly. Cook for 25-30 minutes until golden. Wait for several hours until cutting! Enjoy!
I love the idea of making my own granola bars. These look delicious and anything homemade is always better than store bought.
How funny that you came to my blog and here i come and you have the perfect Granola Recipe. I have in the past week been looking for a breakfast granola bar recipes i can make, and i think this might be the winner. These look fabulous. I will let you know how it goes.
Way to take some beautiful, delicious looking pictures that make me totally mad I don’t have granola in my house right now. Because 2 AM is DEFINITELY too early to make anything, haha
How long do these last (in the fridge?) after you make them? I ask because I’m slow to eat my food… and I hate food waste!
Thanks! I didn’t store mine in the fridge but they lasted maybe 2-3 weeks in a ziplock bag outside the fridge!
I love your photo collage
Granola bars are the best – so good to grab for breakfast, think I will be making these tomorrow!
This is a great snack to keep around. A lot healthier than chocolate……
Would you link this up to the new linky, Ina’s Garden?
http://comfycookc.blogspot.com/2011/04/welcome-to-inas-garden.html
I think, this is a recipe, people will jump on to make.
These granola bars sounds so good! I love all the wonderful dried fruit and nuts. Thank you so much for sharing this with Ina’s Garden. I hope you will come by and join in again. We are making Ina’s Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars for this coming Thursday, and the linky will be open for several days if you would like to join us in making them and link up a post about your experience with them. Hope to see you there!