crunchy

Now that fall is in the air, I finally feel like baking and cooking again. Good thing, because there are so many bags of flours and bottles of vanilla and spices just languishing on my shelves, forlorn all through summer.

I have a bag of dried fruit that my boss gave me, and with it nearing expiration, this recipe grabbed me. I eat a lot of granola and granola bars for quick breakfasts and tucked into my work bag for a fast snack.

I've modified her modification, and made it as follows:

2 c. old fashioned oatmeal
1 c. chopped walnuts
1 c. shredded coconut (sweetened is what I had)
1/2 c. wheat germ, flax meal, or oat bran
2/3 c. liquid sweetener - I used the end of a bottle of pancake syrup, the end of a bottle of kuromitsu (black sugar syrup), and 1/3 c. of honey
1 1/2 t. vanilla paste (or extract, but paste is what I have open)
1/4 t. (sea) salt (Okinawan is what I have now)

1 c. chopped dried tropical fruit: papaya, mango, pineapple

I bought this bottle of honey tonight because I liked the jar.

Combine the first three ingredients and toast on a sheet pan in a 300º oven for ten minutes. Add the wheat germ or whatever you have. Add the sweetener, vanilla, salt, and mix to coat. Add the dried fruit. Press firmly into a baking pan (about 13X9 inches) that is lined with baking paper and greased (this step is important or else it's really hard to get them out of the pan, and you'll scar your pan all up trying to chip it out with various utensils and increasing degrees of frustration) and bake for about 30 minutes at 350º, until lightly golden. Cool for a few hours, then remove from pan (if you've used baking paper, you can just lift it out) and cut. The baking paper also serves as a nice dividing sheet to keep the bars separate - just cut the paper along with the bars.
These are so delicious, dang.