Power Granola Bars

So, you can make granola bars at home. And they are going to be better than store bought ones. And you can even put coffee in them so that they have a bit more of a kick than the ones for the kiddies. No, really.

These lovely power bars are full of whole grains and unrefined sugars and, although they contain some ingredients that are only available at the Hippie grocery store here, they are totally worth the effort. And, they have coffee in them. I mean, comeonpeople. It's like the perfect mid-afternoon snack. I have a habit of making these for car trips or picnics because they are really filling and give you a bit of hitch in your giddyup. They are also a great lunch when you have to grab and go.

These beauties are adapted from Heidi's recipe over at 101 Cookbooks. I really can't recommend that website enough for lovely pictures of food and totally delish vegetarian food.

So, on to the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 tbsp. Butter or Coconut Oil
1 C. Crushed Pecans
1 C. Slivered Almonds
3/4 C. Shredded Coconut, Unsweetened
1 1/2 C. Rolled Oats (not the instant kind, old fashioned, people)
1 1/2 C. Puffed Brown Rice Cereal
1 C. Brown Rice Syrup
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 tbsp. Fine Ground Coffee
1/4 C. Natural Sugar
1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract

Directions
1) Toast the almonds, pecans and coconut in a dry skillet over low-medium heat for 5 minutes.
2) Stir together rice cereal, oats and toasted ingredients in a large bowl
3) Grease a 9x13 pan with the butter or coconut oil.
4) Combine syrup, coffee, vanilla, salt, sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and boil for 4-5 minutes.
5) Stir together the syrup mixture and the cereal mixture. Make sure they are well combined.
6) Grease your hands with butter or coconut oil. Press the mixture into the greased pan. Allow to cool. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
7) Cut into single serving sized pieces and wrap in plastic. Try not to eat them all at once.

Enjoy!

Until our next snack,
ceh.