Homemade granola bars

I honestly eat granola bars on a daily basis, so it made perfect sense to try making my own.  After eating that first bite, I knew that I should have done this a LONG time ago.  These bars are made with simple, natural ingredients, and there's something so liberating about that!  From now on I'll walk down the cereal aisle at the grocery store thinking, "Forget it, Quaker! I don't need you."  The possibilities are endless for this recipe--you could add chocolate chips or swap out the dried apricots for other dried fruit.  Be creative! 


Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1/2 cup roasted, unsalted almonds (you can toast your own in a dry skillet if you just have plain almonds)
• 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 egg
• pinch of salt
• cooking spray and parchment paper

First, toast the wheat germ in a dry skillet over medium heat until lightly browned (about 5 minutes).  This really enhances the flavor for the granola bars.  Next, roughly chop the almonds.  Melt the butter using a microwave in a medium-sized bowl (microwave safe), then whisk in the brown sugar.  Next, add the honey; beat the egg into the mixture and add a pinch of salt.  Switch to a spoon and add the dried fruit, almonds, oats, and wheat germ.  Stir until well-combined.  Line an 8 x 8 square baking dish with parchment paper and spray with the cooking spray.  Dump the granola mixture into the dish and press into the pan to level out the mixture.  Bake at 300 degrees for 27-30 minutes until edges are brown.  Let cool and cut into 12 bars.  Enjoy!