Granola Bars

So I made my own granola bars because a little box of Kashi bars are like $4 for 6 of them. I bought some oats in the bulk bins from whole foods, some carob chips, and dried cherries to make my own bars that I've been slowly munching on for the last 2 weeks now. They're about 150 calories each and I really love them so much!

I got the recipe from the whole foods website, but modified it based on the sweetener that I like using.. but you could certainly use maple syrup if you want! I want to try to make these next time with peanut butter (instead of the oil) and carob chips. Mmmmm yummy!

4 cups quick cook oats
1/3 cup safflower oil (or canola)
3/4 cup brown rice syrup (or use pure maple syrup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup vegan carob chips
1 cup of dried cherries

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread oats onto a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, mix together oil, syrup, vanilla, carob chips and walnuts in a large bowl. Add warm oats and stir well. Spread oat mixture into a greased 9- x 13-inch baking dish, pressing down hard to compact it. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool completely, then cut into bars.

Finished product! So yummy!

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/recipe.php?recipeId=823