soft chewy granola bars

Our little man is allergic to peanuts so we have to watch very carefully what we buy. Few years back I posted on my old blog that Patrik has a peanut allergy and one of the readers sent me her recipe for their family favorite granola bars (thank you again, Carla!). We have been using it ever since and we love them. Well, not everyone, Katrin she doesn’t. She founds them too soft as she is used to the crunchy ones from the store but these are Patrik’s favorite. And he even doesn’t mind the fresh fruit in them.

Granola bars

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup whole flax seeds

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut (we skip this one)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup dried cranberries

2 tbsp sunflower seeds

2 tbsp pumpkin seeds

3/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup honey

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup melted butter

1/3 cup mashed banana

2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease 9 x 13 pan

Direction:

Combine oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, flax seeds, cinnamon, flour, raisins, dried cranberries, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and salt.

I’m glad I always have little hands to help.

Mix and form a well in the middle.

In a medium bowl, whisk honey, egg, melted butter, banana and vanilla.

Pour honey mixture into the well, and mix well.

We like fruit in our bars so whatever fruit I have at hand, I use it. Usually it’s blackberries, blueberries or raspberries but I think that you can use fresh/ dried or frozen fruit which you like (like peach, mango, apricot). You can experiment with different kinds of nuts as well. It’s up to your taste. My kids love chocolate chips in there too.