Chocolate Chip Coconut Craisin Granola Bars

I have been meaning to try homemade granola bars for a while now and finally did after printing off tons of recipes for them in the past year. These granola bars were so tasty. Way better than a store bought one and so much better for you-since you get to control the ingredients that go into them not all of the foreign stuff none of us can even pronounce. If you have been skeptical about trying your own granola bars please don't be they are so yummy and the possibilities are endless. The only difference is they don't  quite hold together as good as a store bought one but in my book that isn't a big deal because it means no gooey high fructose corn syrup holding them together only real ingredients that are good for us. The original recipe called for dried blueberries but they are really expensive so I just used craisins and added mini chocolate chips to them. Use what you like as mix ins. Make them your own!!!

 

Chocolate Chip Coconut Craisin Granola Bars

 

8 cups old fashioned oats

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup milled flax seeds

1 1/2 cup coconut

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup craisins, raisins, or dried blueberries

1 cup mini semi sweet or dark chocolate chips

1 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup agave

1 T. coconut extract

1 tsp vanilla

 

Preheat the oven to 325. Spray or line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.   Combine the oats, flour, milled flax, coconut, brown sugar, salt, craisins, and chocolate chips in a large bowl. Stir well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, honey, agave, coconut extract and vanilla, stir well. Pour over the wet ingredients and mix well. Press the granola mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 40 minutes or until the granola bars are golden brown. Allow to cool then cut into bars. Wrap them individually in saran wrap or store covered in a air tight container.

 

Note: if you don't want a large cookie sheet of them then cut the recipe in 1/2 and press into a 9x13 inch pan.

 

Note: These are also yummy crumbled up and mixed with some greek yogurt!!!