Granola Bars

Granola, Granola Bars - are they same? Yes and Yes.
Because the ingredients are the same. Method is pretty much same. For Granola, you mix the wet ingredients with dry and then toast in the oven. For granola bars, you toast the dry ingredients and then add the wet and bake one more time. (Well it actually depends on the recipe, but that is how I have been making these two for some years now)
Some people may say not really since the amount of liquid for a granola bar is a tad bit more compared to granola. You need that extra liquid to hold the shape of the bars. But this, too varies depending on the recipe.  I made these bars as breakfast bars to go.

One Year Back - Vegan Rice Crispy Treats
Adapted from - Food Network
Ingredients:
Dry Ingredients:
Rolled oats - 2 cups
Wheat germ - 1/2 cup
Sliced almonds - 1 cup
Cashews - 1/2 cup
Flax seeds - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Chopped and measured dried apricots - 3/4 cups - See Notes
Chopped and measured dried mangoes - 3/4 cups - See Notes

Wet ingredients:
Honey - 1/2 cup
Oil - 2 TBSP (or melted butter)
Sugar or brown sugar - 1/4 cup (I used white sugar)
Vanilla - 1 tsp

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. On a rimmed cookie sheet, take rolled oats, wheat germ, almonds, cashews. Toast for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, stir once and add flax seeds and continue to toast for another 5 minutes. Remove and set aside. Lower the temperature of the oven to 300 F. Spray a 9" square pan with vegetable oil spray. Set aside. In a microwave safe measuring cup, measure 1/2 cup honey, top it with sugar and microwave till bubbly. Add oil, salt, vanilla and stir well.
In another bowl, take the dried fruits. Add the toasted ingredients to the dried fruit bowl and mix. Pour the liquid to the dry ingredients and mix well. Dump the contents on to the prepared pan. Place a wax paper or an aluminum foil on the top and press with your hands to pack the pan evenly with the mixture. Firmer you press, less crumbly the bars will be. Bake in the oven at 300 F for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely in the pan. Slice when cool and store in an air tight container for up to 1 week. These freeze very well if wrapped properly.

Notes:
The original recipe called for 6 1/2 Ounces of dried fruit. I weighed and then measured. You can use 1 1/2 cups of dried fruit of your choice. Raisins, cranberries, dried blue berries, dried figs, dates etc.
I added the flax seeds after 10 minutes of baking since I was using already toasted flax seeds. If your flax seeds are raw, you can toast nuts, oats, wheat germ and flax seeds together  for 15 minutes.

Enjoy.