Granola Bars

A friend of mine was recently going through hard times and I was unsure of how to help her. I didn't want to seem too intrusive but at the same time, I wanted to let her know that I cared. So naturally I turned to something that gives me comfort and hoped (prayed) that it would convey the same message to her... desserts!

As my friend is quite health conscious (and I'm so not), I still had to wrack my brain to come up with something suitable to make. I started to think of the healthy foods that I would eat on dragonboat race days and suddenly remembered WDL's famous granola bars! However, when I asked WDL if she could share her recipe with me, her answer (like many a great baker, I'm sure) was that she didn't really have a recipe! She just mixed a whole bunch of things until they stuck together... Umm... I'm not that good a baker that I have the confidence to just "wing it".

Hence my search for a granola bar recipe... Most that I saw were quite easy to follow and I settled on using this one from Inspired Taste. The only issues that I ran into were that 1) I wasn't able to find old-fashioned rolled oats... but according to an internet resource, this just means rolled oats; 2) I also couldn't find kosher salt, so settled on using sea salt instead; 3) I slightly burnt the almonds so it had a strong, almost overwhelming almond taste.

Overall, I think it worked out well in the end and my friend was happy to receive the granola bars... mission accomplished!

Ingredients (makes around 6-8 small bars):
115g rolled oats
40g whole almonds, coarsely chopped
56g pure honey
28g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
25g packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp sea salt
30g dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
33g semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F (177C).
2. Bake rolled oats and almonds for 5 minutes.  Stir and bake for another 3-5 minutes or until lightly toasted.  Set aside in a large mixing bowl.
3. Combine honey, butter, brown sugar, vanilla extract and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until the butter melts and the sugar completely dissolves.
4. Pour the honey butter mixture into the mixing bowl with the toasted oats and almonds. Mix well.
5. Let it cool about 5 minutes then add cranberries and all the chocolate chips except for 1 tbsp worth. Stir to combine. (The chocolate chips will most likely melt a little. This is fine, they turn sticky and help to hold the bars together).
6. Transfer oat mixture to a 9-inch silicon pan (or pan lined with aluminum foil and oiled) then use a rubber spatula or damp fingertips to firmly press the mixture into the pan. (Press hard here, this way the bars will stay together once cooled and cut.)
7. Scatter remaining 1 tbsp of chocolate chips over pressed granola mixture then use a rubber spatula to gently press them into the top.
8. Cover then refrigerate at least 2 hours.
9. Remove block of granola mixture from pan and cut into bars.