Granola Bars

Name: Granola Bars
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 24 bars, 24 serving(s)
Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats; 1 cup rye flour or 1 cup other whole grain flour; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 2 tablespoons coconut, grated (optional); 1/3 cup sugar; 1/3 cup applesauce; 1/3 cup molasses (blackstrap gives the best flavor)

Submitted by Wigglesworth

"I spent a long time looking for a plain, simple granola bar recipe, without all the extra gook that most recipes seem to have--the seeds and wheat germs and fruit and chocolate and what not. Those things are nice enough but not when you don't have them on hand or don't want them. I just wanted a straightforward oats recipe. A friend finally passed one on to me, but I ended up changing a lot in it to strengthen the flavor and make it cheaper. I really like this recipe because it's so easy to make fast and also very versatile. Just add anything you like."

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Ready In:: 25mins
Ingredients:: 7
Yields:: 24 bars
Serves:: 24

ingredients

2 ¹⁄₂ cups old fashioned oats
1 1 cup rye flour or 1 cup other whole grain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons coconut, grated (optional)
¹⁄₃ cup sugar
¹⁄₃ cup applesauce
¹⁄₃ cup molasses (blackstrap gives the best flavor)

directions

Combine dry ingredients. Add applesauce and molasses.
Press firmly into a greased 13x9 baking dish.
Bake at 325 for 20 minutes. Cool at least 15 minutes, and cut into bars.
*You can use up to 1/2 cup applesauce if you want a much softer granola bar, or decrease for even more crunch. Coconut is absolutely optional, but it adds something special to the consistency without drawing attention to itself.
*I really believe this recipe would lend itself well to any whole grain flour. I've only tried the two listed here, and maybe oat flour once, but I hope to try other flours sometime.
*I can get molasses cheap in bulk, so I use that in this recipe. The original called for honey, but it's too expensive for me to keep much on hand, and the granola bars made with honey were really bland, even with some vanilla added, so I prefer the molasses. If you prefer to use honey, just add 1/4 cup, a little vanilla, and substitute 1/3 cup of brown sugar for the white. Don't use vanilla with the molasses--tastes weird. Besides, everything is cheaper without vanilla.