Almond-Honey Power Bars

Before cutting it up

My friend Carolyn emailed me after I posted my last granola bar recipe and said that if I enjoyed those I would definitely enjoy these from eatingwell. They are a different type of granola bar as you don't bake it all together. You bake the oats  and almonds, and heat the sticky ingredients (almond butter, honey etc) and then just put it in a brownie pan and into the fridge to harden. These bars are fruitty tasting and filled with nutritious ingredients (good option for non chocoholics).  They are quite thick, substantial and filling. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 tablespoon flaxseeds, preferably golden
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 cup unsweetened whole-grain puffed cereal ( I didn't have this so I used some kind of allbran) 
• 1/3 cup currants ( I used dried cranberries instead)
• 1/3 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1/3 cup chopped golden raisins (I may have substituted for chocolate chips (ok so i definitely did), but i only used a handful)
• 1/4 cup creamy almond butter (I had just bought some, woohoo!)
• 1/4 cup turbinado sugar, or brown sugar if that's what you have
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Put parchment paper in an 8-inch-square pan

Spread oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds and sesame seeds on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the oats are lightly toasted and the nuts are fragrant, shaking the pan halfway through, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Add cereal, currants, apricots and raisins; toss to combine.

Combine almond butter, sugar, honey, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low, stirring frequently, until the mixture bubbles lightly, 2 to 5 minutes.

Immediately pour the almond butter mixture over the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon or spatula until no dry spots remain. Transfer to the prepared pan. Press the mixture down firmly to make an even layer (wait until the mixture cools slightly if necessary). Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes; cut into 8 bars.