DIY: Granola Bars

If you read my previous post on Goals, you may remember that I want to try some DIY projects this year.  This week presented a great opportunity to try one out.  We've been trying to eat healthier recently--whole grains, lots of fruits and vegetables, etc.  However, the problem with healthier meals packed full of fruits and veggies is that sometimes you don't stay full as long as you would if you'd eaten a heavier meal.  Hence, more frequent snacking.  We've been going through fresh fruit between meals like nobody's business, so I thought I would try to figure out some other semi-healthy snacks.  And that's how I ended up making homemade granola bars.  The recipe I used was this one from KitchenStewardship.com.  I was enticed by its claim to be an easy, no refined sugar, whole grain recipe.  Basically, it is a rolled oat/butter/whole wheat flour base, sweetened with honey, with your choice of mix-ins.  I didn't have the more healthy options for the mix-ins on hand, so I used chocolate chips and peanuts.  Here's the result:

Overall, we liked the recipe.  It was quick to make, the bars were easy to cut, and they weren't dry like similar recipes I've tried in the past.  As you can see in the top picture, they were a little crumbly, but not enough to keep most of the bars from holding together.  They tasted pretty good too - Caleb said "Are you sure these are healthy?" and said he wouldn't mind considering them a dessert.  Next time I'll use some healthier mix-ins like dried fruit instead of chocolate chips.  In the end, they aren't really a healthy snack, but they are certainly a smart and tasty alternative to typical diet-blowing dessert fare.  Plus, they are cheaper and lack the preservatives and high refined sugar content of similar store-bought Quaker granola bars.  I'll keep this recipe!