After countless trial runs, tiny tweaks, and plenty of bad batches [the worst of which were still plenty good enough to eat], we have finally arrived at granola bar perfection. They’ve been tested by family, friends, and acquaintances, all of whom have given two thumbs up. Mildly sweet with a hint of salt, these bars are the ideal balance of chewy and firm. From a roadtrip to North Carolina, to a day at the park, to our honeymoon, these have been our standby snack. They’re so good, we even get the occasional request to send a batch home to the folks.

Sometime last year, we embarked on a mission to create the perfect homemade granola bar. We were hooked on Two Moms in the Raw at the time, so we were shooting for something roughly along those lines. Making a raw granola bar without a dehydrator is not the easiest task in the world, so we settled on baked instead.

The first batch we made was too crumbly and gooey. When we tried to pick up one of the “squares,” it would fall over sadly and break in half. The second batch was an overcorrection. We tried to make them more firm and ended up with a brick of sawdust. Back to the drawing board. On our third try, we got closer to the right texture, but the taste wasn’t quite right.

In this [highly scientific] recipe-testing process, we found that any amount of tinkering had a huge effect on consistency and flavor. So you can bet that it took way more than three trial runs to achieve granola bar gold. For a few weeks, our kitchen looked like the bulk bin section of Whole Foods had exploded: raisins, nuts, and seeds e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. All of the research and development was worth it. Now we have the best snack ever, just chilling in our recipe box, ready to be whipped out for our next adventure.

The list of ingredients is extensive, and for good reason. Each granola bar includes multiple kinds of fiber and protein from the nuts, seeds, and grains. They equal out to 215 calories, 5.5 grams of protein, 4.5 grams of fiber, and provide over 15% of your body’s daily iron and Vitamin A needs. Every ingredient is essential to the flavor and texture, both of which are perfect. This recipe is incredibly easy to make — it takes less than 45 minutes from start to finish! And it makes enough to snack on for days or weeks.

The ingredients are all easy to find in the bulk section of most local health food stores or Whole Foods. Since we make them fairly often, we keep everything on hand so we always have what we need to make a batch.

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