Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy

Earlier this summer I was having trouble staying productive at work. Every day around 3pm I became extremely drowsy and had a very hard time maintaining my concentration. After some self diagnosis with the help of the internet, I decided to change my eating habits and test a hypothesis. I made a lunch time switch from sandwiches to granola bars, fruit and yogurt. Success! Though I started spending more money on granola bars, I did stop the afternoon crash.

I had been toying with the idea of making my own granola bars for a while. Food gawker had turned up so many recipes that I couldn’t help but think about it. Then, on my last walk with Hey, I’m Walkin’ Here!, my decision was made. I had taken along a small selection of granola bars and, when we took an afternoon break, pulled one out for snacking. As I pulled the packaging apart, I thought that the glue on the seams was a bit more cobwebby than normal. Odd. Then something wiggled. It turns out my box of granola bars was infested with Indianmeal moth larvae. I threw everything away and bought a box of Triskets at the next CVS we saw. If I needed that final push into the kitchen, this was definitely it.

Most of the recipes I found were direct variations of Alton Brown's recipe - not surprising once you have read through the ingredients. Others I found struck me as odd and were nixed on the basis of my impatience, one including more ingredients than I thought necessary and another including ingredients I didn't want for this granola.

I finally settled on this one, again similar to the Alton Brown granola bar, because I liked the ingredients and the overall tone of the posting. (The way to my heart is through both my stomach and my head.) I did, however, tweak the recipe based on my own tastes and what was on hand in the kitchen.

Ingredients

• 2 cups oatmeal
• 1 1/2 cups sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup dry roasted sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
• 3/4 cup Zante currants (picked up on a whim and liked them - I may need to reevaluate my stance on raisins)
  
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut
• Zest of one lemon (last minute refrigerator find)

Presentation-wise, my granola bars will not win any beauty contests. I put them in for a few minutes longer than the recipe called for and they may have been crispier as a result.

But they're good. They're really good. Aside from getting granola crumbs down my shirt while sampling the results, I would call this a success.