Homemade Granola Bar

I love granola bars but it is impossible to find one that is not packed with sugar and ingredients I can't pronounce.  So I have embarked on a journey to create my own.  By creating my own I can include ingredients that offer vitamins and minerals I need but don't often get in my daily diet, I can omit added sugar and I can pronounce all the ingredients! 
My first stop on this granola journey was Pinterest!  I found a few pins with granola bar recipes and chose one to use as my initial baseline.  Happy Healthy Mama had encountered a similar quest as mine.  


Her ingredients were as follows: 
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup raisins
1 cup pitted prunes
2 small, ripe bananas
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips


I made a few changes for this first attempt: 

1. Instead of canola oil i used coconut oil.  
2. I did not have any prunes or raisins, but I did have dried cranberries so I added 1 C of those 
3. I used 2 large ripe bananas.  
4. I used regular milk chocolate chips.  

I mixed all the ingredients together with my Kitchenaid mixer.  Once everything was moist and sticking together I put it in an 8x8 glass dish.  I baked it at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. 


They turned out very tasty but I would like them to be a bit crunchier!  Back to my research...how to make them crunchy...

Not for the Dishwasher!

I am very lucky that my other half takes care of the dishes and dishwasher...the problem is he thinks EVERYTHING goes in the dishwasher!  My pig serving platters DO NOT!  I may not have made that clear to him...but he knows now!

I inherited these pig platters from my aunt when she passed away - I love them because they're so cute but also because they have her memory attached to them.  So you can imagine I was very disheartened when they were pulled out of the dishwasher and had lost their shine.  Being told that pigs like to roll in the mud so they're not meant to shine did not make me feel any better!


But don't worry the problem was fixed! As you may be discovering we often find a way to fix problems with someone that would normally be used in a mechanics garage, as I mentioned here.

The dishwasher had left a film on my piggies that did not come off with Dawn so out to the garage we went.

We buffed the aluminum just as you would with your car's wheels.

This little piggie shined right up!  One more to go.

Lessons learned: Do not put aluminum in the dishwasher & if you do, just buff it out! (Don't forget to thoroughly wash your dishes before using them to serve or eat!)

Linked to: WFMW