Make Your Own Breakfast Bar

Breakfast bars can be sweet or savory.

Breakfast bars are beneficial for anyone who wants to eat a healthy breakfast, especially on the go. Most often breakfast bars are made from granola, which is light to carry, filling and can be made hundreds of different ways to accommodate your favorite foods. Granola was created when sheets of graham flour and crackers were crushed up and baked together, according to FoodReference.com. You can make your own breakfast bars at home using a range of products that are common to the kitchen. Incorporate whatever ingredients you want, such as dried fruit, chocolate chips, nuts and so forth.

Instructions

1. Create the granola. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Grease a wide baking dish.

2. Mix the nuts and oats in the baking dish and set to the side. Use a combination of nuts or just one of your favorites. Heat the saucepan on medium high and add the

brown sugar, apple juice, honey, oil, cinnamon, vanilla and salt.

3. Stir continuously until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is combined. Make sure it doesn't boil.

4. Cover the oat-and-nut mixture with the rest of the granola mixture from the pan. Lightly stir so the oats and nuts are coated.

5. Bake the granola for about an hour and 10 to 15 minutes. Continue to stir the granola every 15 to 20 minutes.

6. Add 1/4 cup of dried fruit such as apricots, raisins, cranberries, bananas, cherries and so forth once the mixture has cooled a little bit.

7. Make the breakfast bars. Turn the oven up to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a second baking dish.

8. Mix together the butter and sugar with a hand mixture until it is a wet texture, then beat in the eggs and vanilla.

9. Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt and cinnamon in a second bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir well. Add the granola to the bowl.

10. Spread the breakfast bar mixture evenly in the second baking dish with a spatula. Bake for 40 minutes for more crispy breakfast bars, and 30 minutes for chewy bars.

11. Let the breakfast bars cool, then cut into even squares in your desired bar size.

Tags: baking dish, breakfast bars, dried fruit, oven degrees, second baking, second baking dish