I’ve found myself a new obsession…granola bars! Believe it or not, I’ve never made granola before, but the other day I saw a Youtube video of a young schoolgirl in Norway doing a cooking video of healthy snacks to take to school and this teenager inspired me to go out a buy a bunch of ingredients and make my first batch.

I already had a big bag of cranberries, sliced almonds and rice cereal and so I picked up some sunflower and flax seeds and semi sweet chocolate chips and I mixed them together with some maple syrup and honey, baked them and…vola! Crispy, crunchy healthy deliciousness, just perfect for satisfying my craving for a little bit of something sweet or salty. And now the possibilities for different varieties has me already planning my next batch.

For starters, this first batch turned out awesome…but first a tip on ingredients. Feel free to mix and match ingredients. Use raisins instead of cranberries or pumpkin seeds instead of sunflower or oats instead of rice cereal. You get the picture, there’s lots of ways to go here. And don’t get too stuck on the quantities either, simply remember to add enough syrup or honey to stick it all together and wait to slice it until cooled.

Ingredients

1 cup (about 200 g) rice cereal or oats

1/2 cup raw cashews

1/2 cup salted sunflower seeds

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 (30 ml) tablespoons flax seeds

1/4 cup (60 ml) pure maple syrup

1/4 cup honey

Instructions

Mix all ingredients except syrup and honey in a large bowl. Mix the syrup and the honey in a separate bowl and pour into the mixture and mix until all is moistened. Add more syrup or honey if needed.

In the meantime, pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F (162.7 C) and line an 8 inch (20 centimeters) square pan with parchment paper. Add mixture and press down evenly and firmly. Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let it cool completely then cut into pieces with a serrated knife. Store in a jar or plastic container in the fridge and enjoy a bite anytime!