Unexciting Granola Bars

[snarp]

Based on this recipe. I've been making these for Dad, who complains when I don't use the chocolate chips, but they're fine plain.

2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup oat bran
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips, raisins, or dried cranberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine dry ingredients, then add wet. Add chocolate chips/dried fruit if desired. Mix until all dry ingredients are moist. Pat down firmly in greased 9"x11" pan, leaving as few gaps between clumps of oats as possible; empty spaces will make the bars brittle and cause them to crumble easily. Bake for 30 minutes. Slice into 8-10 rectangular pieces immediately upon removing from oven, then allow to cool until hard before removing from pan.

Comments

[rroselavy]

Actually, those sound delicious. Are they hard to get out of the pan after they've cooled? What kind of pan do you bake them in? (i.e., non-stick, enameled, glass ...)

[sophisted]

Cookie sheets are the best to bake cookies on (general non-stick coating pan), but you can bake them on any other kind of pan by lining them with parchment paper. Just whatever you do, do not put cookies on a greased pan, it will cause them to spread and be super thin.

[snarp]

I use a plain metal 9"x11" baking pan, of the kind you make sheet cake in. They'll lift right out as long as you grease the pan beforehand and pat the mixture down very firmly. I haven't needed parchment paper, but it might be necessary if you substitute applesauce for the oil, as sophisted suggests below.

[sophisted]

I make something similar, but substitute apple sauce for the vegetable oil and add almond extract instead of vanilla. Yum!

It is also easier if you add the dry ingredients in thirds to the wet ingredients, in my experience.