Peanut Butter and Banana Granola Bars

One of my goals is to start making more pantry items.  We already make our own peanut butter and jelly (when the fruit is in season), we only eat oatmeal from real oats, no boxed mashed potatoes (gross)....a lot of things. But I know we can do better and granola bars are one item we always buy.

I've been thinking about making my own granola bars for sometime now but just finally found a recipe that looked like something we'd really like.  I'm glad I tried this one because it was definitely a success.  It is amazing to hit a home run on the first shot but I really think these are great. They are delicious and even sort of sweet without any added sugar.  They were also really easy to make and they didn't stick to the pan or anything, yay! And I really love that I made them with all organic ingredients.  All real whole ingredients!  It is so nice knowing just exactly what is going in to my food.

Peanut Butter and Banana Granola Bars, recipe from My Kitchen Affair  (check out the blog for some really great pictures of these granola bars. As usual, my camera "skills" don't do them justice)

1/2 cup peanut butter
2 bananas, sliced
2 oz dates, roughly chopped
2 oz raisins, roughly chopped
2 oz dried apricots, roughly chopped
1/2 cup mixed seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, etc...)
1 cup rolled oats

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Spray a 8x8 baking pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper.  Spray top of paper too.

Put the bananas in a small saucepan and gently mash them.  Add the peanut butter and turn the pan on to medium low and heat until melted and combined.

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl then spread it evenly into the prepared pan.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Let these cool completely until slicing into 9 bars.  Enjoy!

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