Honey Almond Granola Bars

I’m a huge fan of the crunchy Nature Valley granola bars.

Makes a great snack and is even better when crumbled into pieces and topped over a bowl of yogurt.

When I stumbled upon this recipe on NancyCreative’s blog, I knew that it was exactly what I was looking for.

Haha they were the homemade granola bar that I’ve been searching for to fill my nature valley granola bar void. And though they didn’t taste exactly like nature valley’s bars, they were pretty close – probably the next best thing. (huge thanks to Nancy for sharing this recipe – its a keeper!) The texture of these bars were actually much lighter and crumbly compared to the dense and super crunchy nature valley’s. I didn’t mind that because that just made it easier to break up into smaller granola clusters.

Andd, as you all know, I like my overnight oats. When I don’t have any Nutella granola lying around, I like to top my oats off with some of this honey oat goodness. So yummy, hearty, mix of sweet, not to mention healthy. Mmmmmhmm, it’ll change your life. For reals.

Enjoy! 

Come join the fiesta Friday party here!

• Servings: 24 bars
• Time: 2 hours
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

• 7 C old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 C canola oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 3/4 C honey
• 3/4 C packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp almond extract
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed
• 1 1/2 C coarsely chopped or sliced almonds

1. Preheat oven to 375˚F with oven in the middle.
2. Line a 13 x 18″ rimmed baking pan with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, combine: oats, oil, and salt, mixing until oats are evenly coated. Transfer mixture to baking sheet and spread into an even layer.
4. Toast oats by baking and stirring every 10 mins for 20 to 25 mins total or until golden. Remove pan from oven and lower temperature to 300˚F.
5. In a small pot, combine honey and brown sugar and continuously stir over med heat for about 5 mins. Remove from heat and stir in almond extract.
6. In large bowl, mix together: oats, flax seed, and almonds. Add honey mixture and stir with greased rubber spatula until the oats are thoroughly coated
7. With non-stick spray, lightly coat the parchment paper that you used to line the baking sheet. Evenly spread granola mixture over the sheet and firmly press the mixture into the pan to make a flat, compact layer.
8. Bake at 300˚F until golden, approx 35 mins.
9. Allow granola to cool in the baking sheet, on a wire rack, for 10 mins before cutting into bars with a knife or pastry scraper (Cut the bars while they’re still warm, because it will be very difficult once they have hardened). Cut bars completely through and then allow bars to completely cool in the pan.
10. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.