Homemade Granola Bar

I've been wanting to bake a granola bar from scratch. Homemade granola bars are wholesome. You can add ingredients you fancy and control the sweetness. No preservatives. All fresh and natural ingredients. I googled around and found this recipe by Ina Garten from Food Network (Ina Garten's Homemade Granola Bars). I liked it and set about to baking it with some modifications to the recipe.

I omitted the wheatgerm and coconut flakes as I do not really like them. I added lots of nuts instead like almond, walnut, cashew and pumpkin seeds. And instead of just honey, I used half honey and half maple syrup. The maple syrup really adds a much better flavor instead of just pure 
honey.

Homemade Granola Bars (Recipe adapted from Ina Garten's recipe)

Ingredients:

21/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1¼ cup almonds 

1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup cashew nuts
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup (170g) honey
1/4 + 1/8 cup (120g) maple syrup
2 tbsp light brown sugar
3¾ tbsp (53g) unsalted butter 
1¾ tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup dried apricots

Preparation:
Preheat oven at 175 degree celsius.
Butter a 9" x 13" baking pan and line it with parchment paper.

Method:

1. Toss the rolled oats and all the nuts onto a baking tray and bake for about 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture into a mixing bowl and stir in the pumpkin seeds.
2. Reduce the oven temperature to 150 degree celsius.
3. Place the butter, honey, maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla extract and salt in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour it over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dried cranberries and apricots and stir well.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Wet your fingers and lightly press the mixture evenly into the pan.
5. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until lightly golden brown.
6. Remove from oven and cool it over a wire rack for 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares.
7. Serve at room temperature. You can store the remaining ones in the fridge.

**Notes**

Press down the bar lightly once you remove the pan from the oven. This is to ensure that all the ingredients will stick or bind together and not break up too badly when you cut them into squares.

I think the dried apricots and cranberries tend to be more burnt than the nuts and oats due to the sugar present in them. You can try to bake the pan at the lower third of the oven or cover it with aluminium foil towards the last 5-10 minutes of the baking time.