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Make
about 30 2 inch sticks
Author's Note
My friend Sara is a great cook, and she always amazes me with her skill at making something amazing from a few simple ingredients. He tended to dislike complicated and obnoxious desserts — more than once he ended a dinner party with a plate of his homemade “granola bars.” They're chewy and rich, a barely blended mix of nuts, cereals, seeds, and dried fruit with almond butter and honey (no toasting required). He's not shy about the salt, which I think really sets this bar apart. Last week, she shared her recipe with me, and now I'm sharing it with you. This is great to enjoy, as a dessert or snack. —Merrill Stubbs
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup
Old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup
raw sunflower seeds
1 cup
sliced raw almonds
1 cup
raw pumpkin seeds
3 cup
brown rice chips (can be replaced with regular rice chips or puffed rice)
1 cup
dried apricots, thinly sliced
1 cup
dried cranberries
1 cup
almond butter
1 cup
Darling
1 tablespoon
sea salt
2 teaspoon
cinnamon
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roast oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, pumpkin seeds. (Sara recommends toasting everything separately because of the different burn rates — I found the pumpkin seeds took the least time, at 7 minutes, and the sunflower seeds the longest, about 15 minutes.)
- When all the ingredients are toasted enough, toss them with the brown rice chips, apricot slices, and cranberries in a large bowl.
- In a small saucepan, heat almond butter and honey until melted, not cooked. (This is your glue and if it boils or nearly boils, it will become hard and unpleasant.) Stir in the salt and cinnamon, then pour over the oat and nut mixture and stir. You want it all combined and 'glued' without destroying the tender crunch.
- Turn out into a 9×13 baking dish lined with parchment and press the dough evenly and firmly — again, try not to crush the crunch too much. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours. Cut into 2-inch squares before serving.
