Granola Bars

Usually when I bake for my husbands work, I try new recipes that I find online, OR i just make cookies. I know im boring! With 2 kids running around, potty training one, yelling at the other, filling sippy cups, cleaning up accidents on the floor, doing laundry, thinking about dinner, taking care of our renters, paying bills ... etc... I dont have much time to bake! But truly it is my passion. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to bake.  So when my husband tells me at 3pm on a tuesday that the following day they are having a pot luck lunch. Yah at 3pm!  He did tell me that I didnt have to make anything. BUT that's not me. Im always the one to send in a crap load of food!
So this time, I made Granola Bars! And they were SOOOOO good. I used a mixture of Raisins, apricots and..... drum roll please...... Hawthorne Berries... I highly doubt that anyone reading this knows what these are. And if you don't live near a China town, you won't find these sugary goodness. We LOVE LOVE LOVE them. Even though I dont understand why noone truly knows what they look like lol.   The Hawthorne berries are cut into strips and rolled in sugar and are so yummy. It kinda reminds you of eating a fruit roll up but cut into strips. So good.


Enough of me talking... here is the recipe!





Granola Bars
1 1/8 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 cup corn syrup

3/4 cup butter, melted

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

1 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup craisins

1 c dried fruit


In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and vanilla. Combine the remaining ingredients; add to peanut butter mixture and stir to coat. Press into two greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pans. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Don't overbake or they will get crispy. When they come out of the oven, run a knife around the edges to loosen them from the pan a little. Cool on wire racks. Cut into bars. Yield: 3 dozen.


(If you would like to incorporate Peanut butter into this recipe, cut the Corn Syrup back to 3/4 cup and add 1 cup of peanut butter.)