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A little bit of this, and a little bit of that. I had a cabinet full of bits and pieces of various nuts, seeds, cranberries and dates. I pulled all the little bags and jars out and grabbed the oatmeal.
Tricia’s kitchen sink granola bars
After looking at the pile for a while, I finally decided to separate the cranberries and raisins from the nuts and seeds. I put the nuts on a baking sheet and toasted them in the oven at 275 degrees for 15 minutes.
I chopped the almonds and a few pecans. I also added chia and flax seeds.
I think there are pepitas, sunflower and peanuts too.
When I say I cleaned out the cabinet, I mean I cleaned out the cabinet!
I chopped up about 1 cup of pitted dates.
Now I needed something to bind it all together. I went back to the cabinet and scooped about 1/3 cup all natural peanut butter, 1/2 cup brown rice syrup and a splash of vanilla and salt. I added the dates to the syrup peanut butter mixture to rehydrate them a bit. I warmed it in the microwave for about 1 minute and stirred to combine.
In a large bowl I added 2 cups of oats and all the raisins and cranberries I had on hand.
I added unsweetened coconut, about 1/4 cup.
I mixed the nuts, oatmeal, seeds, and syrup mixture together.
Press into a small baking dish lined with parchment paper.
Then I popped it in the oven and baked for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
Even though these have a lot of competing flavors (peanut butter, cranberries, coconut) they really turned out pretty good. I allowed the mixture to cool and cut them into small cookie sized snacks.
My son and his roommate stopped by and grabbed a few. They said they were great!
Now my dribs and drabs of nuts and seeds have been put to good use.
I’m taking the rest of these on our road trip this Friday!
Traveling husband and I are going to Asheville, NC to meet my cousin and her husband (from Detroit) for a weekend of fun and family! I’ll post some of our adventures so stay tuned!
Kitchen Sink Granola Bars
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups nuts (pepitas, pecans, peanuts, almonds)
1 cup dated, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup seeds (sunflower, pepitas, chia & flax)
1/3 cup raisins & cranberries
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1/3 cup creamy all natural peanut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
Dash of salt
Toast the seeds and nuts in a preheated 275 degree oven for 20 minutes.
Stir the oats, raisins, cranberries and coconut together. Add toasted nuts and seeds.
Stir together the syrup, peanut butter, dates and vanilla. Microwave until slightly melted – about 1 minute.
Mix all ingredients together and press mixture into a small casserole dish lined with parchment paper.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.
Cool and cut into cookie size pieces. Enjoy!
Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to bake something fun today! ~ Tricia
Hillary says
These sound FANTASTIC! I'm hungry for one now.
Hungry Jenny says
Mm, I love, love, LOVE granola bars! Are these ones quite chewy or are they more crunchy?<br /><br />Hungry Jenny x
Sarah @ The Smart Kitchen says
This is SO perfectly timed…I had done the same thing in pulling out all the randomness from my pantry over the weekend, but then got caught up in something else and never had a chance to actually make anything. :)<br /><br />Have fun in Asheville! I loved stopping there on my way out west. Can't wait to see where you eat…