Granola Bars : : Any Time, All The Time

I made these Granola bars on Sunday night while the kids were in the bath...it's such a simple recipe that I prepped, prepared and had it it the oven before the boys had their jammies on.
Granted, my boys bathe like they are royalty at a Roman bath house, luxuriating for ages while they contemplate things like which Star Wars character is the best or who farted last.

Anyhoodle.

Here is the recipe...

Anytime Granola Bars (yes, that includes breakfast) : :

Dry : :

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats (I used gluten free oats)
• 1 cup coconut flakes
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup of almond meal (I made my own by processing raw almonds in my Vitamix)
• 1/8-1/4 cup flax meal (optional)
• 1/2 cup mixed nuts or seeds finely chopped (I used Pumpkin and Sunflower seeds)
• 1/2 - 1 cup dried fruit (I like apricots and cranberries, Chris loathes dried fruit and has his without any. at all. ever.)
• 1/4 cup of chocolate chips...if you're feeling Crazy, which I usually am.

Wet : : 

• 2-3 ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup coconut oil warmed to liquid state
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-2 Tbs agave, brown rice or maple syrup (optional)

Preheat oven to 350º

• In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients, making sure the dried fruit doesn't clump up.
• In a separate bowl mash bananas.  Add remaining wet ingredients and mix well.
• Add wet to dry and mix until well combined.  If it's too dry add another mashed banana.
• Spread batter onto a large prepared cookie sheet.  I use my Silpat to avoid greasing/oiling the sheet.  Parchment would probably work great too.
• Smooth batter out to be about 1/2-3/4 inches thick.  Take care to smooth out the edges creating a tidy rectangle.  Now with a sharp knife or a pizza roller you can cut them into bars.  I like ours about 3" x 2".  Using a spatula slide the bars a little bit away from each other to help with more even cooking.  Alternatively you could shape the batter into individual logs and then flatten on the cookie sheet with a little space between each.
• Bake for about 30 minutes or until the bars are firm in the center and browned around the edges.  Start checking them after about 20min.

Till Soon,

A