HOMEMADE RAW GRANOLA BARS

Granola is great, but what better than Granola in bar form. On a quest for the ultimate Granola Bar recipe I tripped over RAW (the company) granola bars at Starbucks (quick energy boost before a location recording gig...). I realized what I had been missing - millet!!! Toasted millet is the jam! So good. So I got on my trusty iPhone, yes - admittedly, at the gig... and found a recipe mimicking this vegan awesome courtesy of Multiply Delicious. Enjoy!

granola.jpg

Ingredients:

note: some of these may vary, as I only used almonds, pumpkin seeds and even threw in some flax seeds. also, my second time around with this I only had a 1/2c worth so I threw in some raisins - diversify!

2c old fashioned rolled oats 1/2c millet (where it's at!) 1/3c pecans, chopped

1/3c unsalted almonds 1/3c pumpkin seeds

1/2c dried cranberries 1/2c mini chocolate chips 3/4 tsp ground ginger 1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cloves

1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp salt

1/3c maple syrup

1/4c honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

1c medjool dates, pitted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a big mixing bowl combine oats, millet, nuts, seeds, cranberries and chocolate chips.

In a food processor, pulse dates, maple syrup, honey and vanilla until roughly chopped and incorporated. Then add spices and puree. Pour the 'binding' mixture into mixing bowl and combine until the mixture is sticky. This is not as wet of a coating as granola - it will be a bit stickier. If you need to get more binding with the dry ingredients, add a tbsp at a time Maple Syrup. I had to add just one additional tbsp.

Place in the oven for about 25 minutes. Let cool completely. Once cooled to room temperature, I placed mine in the fridge for 30 minutes before cutting into bars.

Enjoy!