Crunchy Granola Bars
9x9” pan, about a dozen long barsYou can shift around these ingredients depending on what you have around, but these make a satisfying snack or quick breakfast.
3 1/2 tbsp. soy butter (or almond or peanut butter), preferably chunky
3 tbsp. honey
3 1/2 tbsp. brown rice syrup
Big splash of vanilla
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 cups puffed wheat/rice/kamut
1/2 cup bran buds/Grape-Nuts cereal
1 1/2 cups rolled oats (not the quick-cook kind)
1 handful (about 1/3 cup) dried cranberries or cut-up dried apricot
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup salted sunflower seeds (or a mixture with raw)
Cinnamon
Preheat oven to 325°. Line 8- or 9-inch square pan with a long sheet of parchment paper (you want longer ends than the length of the pan). Warm soy butte,r honey, brown rice syrup, vanilla, and brown sugar until sugar has melted and soy butter has thinned. Mix dry ingredients in big bowl and dust with cinnamon. Pour liquid on top, mixing as you go. When everything is equally coated, spread the mixture into the pan. Press mixture down with long ends of the parchment paper. Bake for about 25 minutes. When you remove the pan from the oven, again use long ends of the parchment to press bars flat. Allow to cool completely before touching again. When totally cooled and hard, lift the ends of the parchment and put onto a cutting board and cut into longish bars or squares.
Note: You can add crushed almonds or slivered ones, or toasted coconut if you like, or raisins — golden and brown — if desired.