Chewy Granola Bars

Granola bars are the answer to everything. Running out the door and forgot to have breakfast? Grab a granola bar. Need some workout fuel but don’t want a heavy meal? Nibble a granola bar. An hour wait at the restaurant and you’re already hungry? Enjoy the granola bar you carry around with you (please tell me I’m not the only one who does this).

Chewy Granola Bars (makes 12)

2¼ cups oats

½ cup flour

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. vanilla

1/3 cup applesauce

1/3 cup agave nectar

2 Tbs. brown sugar

1 cup of whatever you want. I use chopped walnuts and flax seed usually but feel free to use dried fruits, nuts, seeds, etc.

Preheat your oven to 325 F. Mix all of the ingredients together like so.

Portion the batter into a greased muffin tin (about 1/3 cup of batter for each well). Alternatively, pour into a greased 8” or 9” square pan (you will just have to cut them into bars after they cool - the muffin tin is the lazy way to "cut" your pan of granola bars). Either way, press down the mixture as best as you can. Bake for 18 minutes at 325 F. I like to individually wrap them for easy transporting, but that’s up to you. I also learned the hard way that these need to live in the refrigerator (but don't worry, they last for a week or so unrefrigerated if you're traveling).

If you find yourself making these a lot (sometimes we go through a batch a week), make several batches of the dry ingredients at once and store them in quart size plastic bags or tupperware. When you need more granola bars, just dump the dry ingredients into a bowl and add the applesauce, agave nectar, and vanilla.