If I were a food judge in a competition, the three most important aspects of a dish would be taste, presentation, and texture. Texture might seem like an odd criteria to evaluate so highly, but it has always been such an important component to me, in anything I eat. It is one of those onomatopoeia words, where the word phonetically resembles the sound it describes. If you say "texture" slowly, you will see the gymnastic proportions used to articulate it, as opposed to, say, "smooth"; this word uses very few facial muscles and sounds flat and drawn out. I have always befriended the crunchy, the nutty and chewy, and the crispy. I am a texture girl; I am that person in the produce department searching with focused zeal to find the crispest, firmest apple in the bin. I am my mother's daughter. 

Six years ago, when I found Ina Garten's recipe for homemade granola bars, I was over the moon! I have made many batches of these treats and have tinkered with the recipe to make it my own. When Lauren was in high school and the tennis team would travel to an out-of-town tournament, Lauren would pass along messages from her teammates: "please send those dried fruit and nut studded granola bars along for us!" Nothing makes a Mennonite hymnsing leader or a Mother of hungry athletes happier than requests. 

These bars have also made the collegiate circuit; they are delicate and fragile and at times, the kids have had to eat bite-sized pieces of granola heaven, rather than an intact bar. I don't think anyone was irreparably scarred from the experience. Please feel free to change this recipe to your own liking. You can use all almonds for the nuts, or substitute some chopped pecans. Although I have shared my favorite combination of dried fruit, you can customize to your heart's content. Many thanks to The Barefoot Contessa for getting me started! You will notice in the pictures that I made two pans of bars; I simply doubled the recipe.

Granola Bars

3 c. old fashioned oats

1 1/2 c. flaked coconut

1 1/2 c. sliced almonds (or a combination of chopped pecans, sliced almonds or chopped walnuts)

1/2 c. toasted sunflower seeds

3/4 c. toasted wheat germ

5 Tbsp. butter

1 c. honey

6 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. craisins

1/2 c. finely chopped apricots

1/2 c. raisins (golden or dark)

Preheat the oven to convection bake 350 (regular oven, 375). In a large bowl, stir together the oats, coconut, and nuts. Pour into a 10 x 15 x 1 inch sheet pan. Toast in the oven for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until barely light brown. Pour the mixture back into the large bowl and stir in the wheat germ and the sunflower seeds. 

Turn the oven temperature down to convection 300 (regular oven, 325). In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla and salt. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat; stir and cook for a minute. Remove from heat and pour over the dry ingredients. Stir together well with a wooden spoon. Lastly, stir in the dried fruit pieces. 

Prepare the 10 x 15 x 1 inch sheet pan by spraying first with cooking spray, and then lining with parchment paper, cutting the paper to fit the bottom of the pan. Pour the granola into the pan. Wet your fingers and lightly press the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes. The top should be a very light brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for several hours. Run a small knife around the edge of the pan and then invert onto a countertop. The whole thing should fall right out. Peel off the parchment paper, and with a sharp  knife, cut into squares. I did mine into 28 squares, but you can adjust to your own desired size. These bars are delectable, but tend to crumble easily. I like to wrap them individually in plastic wrap for storage and serving. One final note: if you prefer your bars more crunchy than chewy, carefully return the cut bars back to the pan and place in a preheated oven on convection bake 250 for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Wrap each bar in plastic wrap.