These were a big hit at our house as far as taste goes but...I can't seem to make them stay together.:( what am I doing wrong?

I love making homemade granola for my family. When Joe and I got married in 2006, I made several batches and gave them away as party favors for our guests. I can't wait to make granola bars for my family for Christmas this year! Thank you for this post. Do you think I can substitute honey for the corn syrup in this recipe or would it change the texture too much?
I usually add cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to my granola, a la pumpkin pie spice, dried cranberries and apricots to my granola but I LOVE Kristy's suggestion of banana chips.
If I don't make them for the whole group, I know these bars will be perfect for a traveling snack for all the holiday car trips!

Please see my review at the end of the recipe. Thanks! ~ Tammy

Try toasting your coconut before adding it to the recipe. It adds a nutty, butterscotch flavored crunch that is SO good! I toast mine in a dry cast iron pan. You can add a bit of sugar to it if you want it sweeter.

These are delicious! I added flax seeds, almonds, coconut, and carob chips to mine and used coconut oil in place of butter and 7 cups of oats instead of 9. Yummy! I did notice that the dry ingredients weren't sticking together, so I added two eggs to the mix. I could feast on these forever!

We made these and they are great!

I put the whole batch into a jelly roll pan so they were thicker and not as crunchy, but delicious.

Also, because our daughter is extremely allergic to nuts I used shredded coconut (not a nut) and raisins.

I will definitely be making it again. To try and get the crunch of nuts I am going to try banana chips roughly chopped -- and coconut and raisins of course!

We have made Energy Bars several times now. Here is how we have modified them:

Bake in 1 jellyroll pan rather than 2, increasing baking time to 22 minutes. This makes a thicker, chewier bar that is easier to cut into smaller rectangles and is less crumbly.

Add mini baking m&m's. (Yum!)

Add 1/2C ground flax, 1/2C coconut, 1/2C mini chocolate chips or m&m's and 1/2C sunflower seeds. Reduce oats by 1/2C.

Next, I'd like to try replacing some of the sugar with honey. I'll let you know how it goes.

His, Lisa

aka lisa_iowa

wife to Daryl, momys to 7

Using the stock recipe, this is a no-frills 'hard' granola bar. Not quite as sweet or hard as the store bought varieties, this granola bar has a pleasant hearty taste--and is an excellent addition to breakfast or as a quick snack.

I would have given the recipe a 7/10, but where this recipe really excells is when you get creative. Add extra coconut (you can never have enough coconut!), chocolate chips, M&Ms, almonds, sunflower seeds, etc and you have a real winner. But do note, as Tammy comments, that if you add extra ingredients that you may need to add some additional sugar and/or corn syrup. If you don't the bars will be fairly brittle. Of course granola bar crumbs make an excellent granola cereal with milk. So when life gives you a lemon...