These little bars are great for packing in lunches or as an after-school snack. Cut them as small or as big as you like!
Homemade Chia Seed Granola Bars
2 ½ cups old fashioned rolled oats
½ cup whole almonds,
roughly chopped
1/3 cup honey
¼ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons chia seeds (I prefer Mayorga Brand)
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line bottom of a 9-inch square pan
with parchment paper.
Combine the oats and roughly chopped almonds to a small baking
sheet then bake 7-10 minutes until lightly toasted or golden brown. (If it is summertime and you don't want to heat up your kitchen there is no need to turn on your oven. Put the oats in a large saute' pan and cook over medium heat, shaking pan or stirring occasionally until toasted. Do the same with the almonds.) Transfer toasted oats & almonds to
a large bowl.
While the oats and almonds are in oven, combine the butter, honey, and brown
sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until butter melts and the
sugar completely dissolves, stirring occasionally. Take off the heat
and stir in the salt, vanilla, and chia seeds. Pour the butter mixture over the
toasted oats and almonds and add the cranberries. Mix well. Let cool completely
for ½ hours then add the chocolate chips. Stir to combine. (I did not wait long
enough and my chocolate chips melted…still tasted great but I would rather
there be bits of chocolate throughout each bar.)
Transfer the oat mixture to prepared pan. Using a rubber spatula
firmly press the mixture into the pan until the mixture is in a uniform layer. Transfer
the entire pan to the refrigerator and chill for 2 hours.
After the granola has cooled completely, gently lift it out of
the pan using the parchment paper as handles and cut it into squares or bars. I keep these stored in the refrigerator and
add to lunches or have ready for after-school snacks. Yum!
