It never fails that when someone comes to visit and packs one of our granola bars on their way out for a ski, bike or hike, I end up sending this granola bar recipe home with them because they love it so much! A friend of mine shared this recipe with me shortly after our move to Fernie when we noticed everyone (you think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not!) snacking on them. Turns out they come from an amazing cook book that originated right here in the Kootenays at the Whitewater Ski Resort just down the road from us. So, with this VERY snowy day, I thought it would be a great chance to share the most well known granola bar of the Kootenays once and for all.
GRANOLA BARS
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 1/2 tbsp of vanilla extract
2 cups of brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
6 cups of rolled oats
1 cup coconut, toasted
1 cup sunflower seeds, toasted
1 cup sesame seeds toasted
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup raisins
Toast coconut, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds in a skillet and set aside to cool; this “set aside to cool” part is REALLY important, otherwise they will expand over the tray while baking and make a huge mess of your oven (definitely learned that one the hard way). In your mixer cream together the butter, peanut butter, vanilla and brown sugar. Then, add the corn syrup. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix the oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, chocolate chips and raisins. Now, if you have a massive mixer, you can add the dry ingredients to your wet; however, if your mixer is an average size, you may be able to add some, but you will not be able to add everything with out it spilling over the top of the bowl (yet another lesson learned the hard way), so you may need to mix some by hand – and this is seriously the main reason we now have a bigger mixer! Once everything is thoroughly mixed, you can press it all onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350℉ for 18-20 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Let cool and then turn it onto a cutting board (or two) and cut into bars or squares. Makes approximately 24 bars.
For all the times I’ve made these, I don’t think I’ve ever really done it the same way twice. Depending on what I have in the freezer, I will sometimes throw in some nuts, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, various dried fruits, white chocolate chips … really, anything goes!
We ALWAYS have a batch of these cut up in the freezer, so we can grab one whenever we have a craving or need a snack on the run.
ENJOY!
Great post! I hit on a granola bar recipe “by accident” using overcooked jam, and now am always eager to try new granola bar recipes. 🙂
This one is definitely a winner!!!
Holy Cow! We might have to try these out this season. These look fantastic!!!
They really are!!! Thanks so much Alex!
These are a major high with our major midget female ice hockey team.
SO happy you love them Kathy!!!
Have you tested out using honey or maple syrup as substitute for corn syrup and possibly coconut oil in substitute of butter? If not do you think it may work? Quite a kootenay request lol
Those are some GREAT (and yes, very “granola”) ideas! I’d love to ditch the corn syrup – will definitely give those a try next time! Thanks for sharing Jennifer!
Hi there, I was wondering the same thing! Did you ever try those substitutes?
I use coconut oil and it works beautifully!
These are soooooo delish!!! I freeze them in bars and kids (and adults) grab as a lite snack. Whenever some one new tries them they ask me for the recipe. I’m experimenting with levels of sugar and corn syrup as ideally, those would be reduced. But definitely a recipe to try.
These have long been a favourite of ours too! I love switching up the mix-ins each time I make them. Please let me know if you’re able to successfully eliminate the corn syrup.
My absolute favourite granola bars!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Thanks Hayley! We really LOVE them too!
It says in the recipe to use sunflower seeds but it appears as if you used pumpkin seeds? which ones work best?
I often switch these out and they both taste great!
I used coconut nectar instead of corn syrup, 1:1, and I used coconut sugar plus 2 tbsp of molasses insead of brown sugar.
Oh perfect, thanks so much for sharing Jen!
Hi! Love these bars! So happy to find the recipe just before school starts again!
Thanks so much Jessica! They really are the best!!!