I want to be Ina for a day and her Homemade Granola Bars

I want to be Ina Garten. Just for one day, I want to be The Barefoot Contessa. I want to live in a huge house in The Hamptons, have a brand new barn built as my new kitchen, I want to flit around town and go the the coolest food stores, where everyone knows my name. I want all my food to always look and taste as fabulous as hers does. I want to have fab friends who are always having parties and need my help to make it perfect. I want her collection of white dishes. It also wouldn't be bad to have a husband who works in another state during the week and only comes home on weekends. Oh, what a perfect wife I would be then. (just kidding, honey!!) I want her collection of pots and pans and her beautiful herbs that are waiting so patiently on her counter for her to use. I love Ina and how idyllic her life seems, but I would only trade it for one day, because I would miss my own disorganized, chaotic and kid filled life too much. A girl is allowed to dream. Now that I got that off my chest, I can move on to her Homemade Granola Bars, the original recipe can be found here. I saw her make these last week on TV and had to make them immediately. They were easy and so good and the ingredients can be interchangeable, I think, so if you don't like something, change it to something else. A Barefoot Contessa recipe has never let me down, and this one is no different.



Homemade Granola Bars


2 cups old fashioned oatmeal
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed
1/2 cup wheat germ ( I did not use, because I didn't have any)
3 tbsp unsalted butter
2/3 cup honey
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped,pitted dates
1/2 cup chopped, dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Butter an 8x12 inch baking dish and line it with parchmant. I used a 9x13 and it was perfect. Do not skip on the parchmant paper, it will help you remove these later.


Toss oatmeal,coconut and almonds together on a sheet pan and bake 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.

Transfer to a large bowland stir in wheat germ. Reduce oven to 300.

Place butter,honey,brownsugar, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.


Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over oatmeal mixture. Add the dates, apricots and cranberries.

Stir very well.

Pour the mixture into prepared pan, please use the parchmant paper. Wet your fingers and lightly press the mixture evenly into pan.

Looks good, no? Bake 25-30 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool at least 2-3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.

The parchmant paper made this so much easier for the whole thing to come out when I flipped it over.

These were so good and my coworkers inhaled them. I was really impressed. They were so easy to make and they made alot and I think for the upcoming school year they would make a great snack or quick breakfast. I think you could substitute any dried fruit or nuts you like to make it work for you, but definately try them. They are a keeper.

As you can tell by my picture, I did not let them sit for 2-3 hours, so they drooped a little for this shot. Ina would have never done that, she would have known better. Oh well.