Granola Bars

Well, it has been a while once again. The new job has consumed much of my time. I try to tell them that when I worked at the Alaska Bird Observatory I used to bake before I went to work in the morning and if they would just let me come in a little later they too could get scones! I try not to cry too much about my early morning work hours as now I have great benefitssuch as being able to take classes like zymurgy and next semester ceramics. Now I will be able to make my own beer and something to drink it out of! Of course, I actually made a dentist appointment for the first time in years (I’m not confessing how many). The dentist will be a good thing since I am running around like a crazy woman in the morning and am lucky if I remember to brush my teeth!
That is where these granola bars come in handy. I have always wanted to make my own granola bars. This is another one of those items that always scared me to try and make at home. Let’s face it, there are a lot of bad granola bars out there. This always leads me to believe that the item is very difficult to do well. I made them last Sunday and put a bunch in a plastic bag and threw them in my bag to munch on throughout the week. They are the perfect thing for breakfast on the go. I think they could handle any fruit and nut combination. I used what I had on hand, but I just bought some flax seed and dried blueberries that I want to try next time.

Granola Bars
adapted from Nigella Express
1 14-fl-oz can condensed milk
2 1/2 cups thick cut rolled oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1 cup natural unsalted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees and oil a 9- x 13-inch baking pan.
Warm the condensed milk in a large pot over medium heat.
When milk is warm and runny remove from heat and add the rest of the ingredients, stirring to coat completely. Spread the mixture into the oiled pan and press down with a spatula to make the surface even.
Bake for 1 hour, remove, and after about 15 minutes remove from pan and let cool on a cutting board, once completely cool cut into three across and four down, to make 12 chunky bars. Stored in an airtight container they will last at least a week.