Pretending to be healthy - Granola Bars

Many years ago, I stole my friend Rachel's granola recipe and my breakfast life was never the same.  All our kids love it and have yet to get tired of it.

But I was looking for something recently to serve to a large group; something with a breakfasty, granola feel to it but easy to handle.   Duh, I guess that's what a granola bar is!  

I found a super simple recipe and have made it several times now with fabulous results.

** Be warned.  If "Granola Bars" to you means "healthy", you should just stop reading now and check out wholefoods or something.  **

Here goes:

Get out your big bowl and put in:

- 5 cups of oats (This is flexible though; recently I only had 3c oats, so I used that plus 1 c crushed graham cracker crumbs and 1 c crushed oreos.  Yum! =)

-1 can sweetened condensed milk

- 1/2 c. honey

- 3 Tb butter, melted

-toppings of your choice.  I chose mini marshmallows and chocolate chips, but next I want to try white chocolate and cranberry, followed by dried apple bits and cinnamon.  You could do m&m's, fruit and nut, or whatever else floats your boat.

Mix well.

Line your baking pan with baking paper (of course) and make sure it goes over the edges.  If it does, you can just lift out the whole thing when your bars are done baking.  Makes for easy cutting, I tell ya.

I bake this at 160 (ok, I pretty much ALWAYS leave my oven on 160 unless I'm making pizza) for 15 minutes or so.  Once the edges start looking a little brown, I pull them out right away.  I want my granola bars chewy and soft, not competing with Nature Valley.  (BUT - if you like Nature Valley, bake them longer to achieve a crispy bar!)

I use my pizza cutter and cut them into bars.  I don't spend too long making them look beautiful, because once I set the plate out, they're gone.

When things are good, no one cares if they're pretty.