Granola Bars
This is adapted from a recipe here:
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/dark-chocolate-apricot-granola-bars/
Ingredients
1/2 cup loosely packed light or dark brown sugar
2 Tablespoons solid coconut oil (or cold butter, cut into cubes)
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour (spoon & leveled) or *or regular flour
1 and 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1-1.5 cups sugared plumcots or other leftover fruit (any fruit can be used here chopped)
1/2 cup pecans
2 tbsp chia seeds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten *or just two eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly spray a 8×8 (or 9×9) baking pan with cookie spray. Set aside.
Combine brown sugar and coconut oil in a medium bowl until crumbly and well mixed. Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the dry ingredients.
In another medium bowl, mix together, flour, oats, sugared fruit, pecans, chia seeds, and cinnamon. Remove the sugar/oil mixture form the refrigerator and mix in with the dry ingredients. Add egg whites, and vanilla. Lightly stir to combine. Do NOT overmix.
Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Bake for 15-18 minutes until sides are barely browning. Cool completely before cutting into squares. I waited 1 hour to cut into 16 squares. Bars stay fresh at room temperature for up to 1 week.
The hard you press down the mixture prior to baking the firmer the bars will be. I like to take an identical baking pan to the one the mixture is and use it to press down. This allows you to put uniform pressure to compact the bars and to really press it down.