"Clean Out the Pantry" Granola Bars

Last month, I took a stab at making homemade granola bars.  I was amazed at how super easy they were to make and how much Bret loved them!  Since I've been baking up a storm lately, I had a lot of leftover ingredients that I knew would go perfectly in homemade granola bars and sort of made a "clean out the pantry" version.

First, I pre-heated the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, I combined all of my dry ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups of oats
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup golden raisin
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup diced walnuts
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup peanut butter chips
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

I then added my wet ingredients.  Since I added a lot more dry ingredients than my first version, I decided to double the amount of wet ingredients and crossed my fingers that the granola would turn out okay!

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup agave nectar
• 2 eggs beaten
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract

This granola mixture was definitely more wet than the previous version.  I poured the granola batter into a parchment-lined cake pan and baked the granola bars for about thirty minutes.

When the granola was done baking, I let it cool in the pan for about forty-five minutes before cutting them into squares.

These granola bars were more cake-like and less crumbly than my previous version, which I really enjoyed.  I also liked how they weren't overly sweet, even with the addition of chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.

Do you like granola bars?  Do you make your own?  If you buy them, what is your favorite brand?