Homemade gluten-free granola bar recipe from Jill of All Trades

(FOX 2) - This week, as kids get ready to head back to school, our Jill of All Trades, Jill Washburn, shows us how she makes her “famous” Gluten-Free-Granola bars.  

Jill says that they are a great snack, a nice lunchbox treat, or a fantastic grab-and-go breakfast.

Here is Jill’s recipe:

• 4 1/2 cups uncooked oats (Jill uses 2 cups quick oats and 2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats)
• 1 cup flour (Jill uses gluten-free flour)
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar (Jill uses the dark brown kind)
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Then add:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter, melted (Jill uses organic)
• 1/2 cup honey (Jill uses raw)
• 1 tsp. of vanilla extract, or other flavoring of your choice (optional)

Stir together until mixed well. Then add:

• 2 - 2 1/2 cups of “add-ins”

These could be chopped dried fruits, various nuts or seeds, chocolate chips or some other kind of baking chips.

Stir everything together until the add-ins are evenly distributed.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 1/2 sheet jelly roll pan with a drizzle of oil (Jill uses olive oil), spreading it evenly around the pan. Pour the granola mixture into the pan and spread it evenly.  

If you’re just making granola clusters, you can pop the pan right into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or so.

If you’re making granola bars, cover the granola with a sheet of wax paper and press the mixture into an even layer with a rolling pin. Once it’s evenly spread and pressed down, put it in the oven and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until the granola is golden brown.  

Let it cool a bit, but not completely before you cut it into bars. You want it to still be a little bit soft so that they cut easier. Jill uses a pizza cutter for easy cutting. Then let the bars cool a bit more before removing them from the pan.

Jill stores her granola bars in the freezer. They’re actually great cold, she says, but also thaw in a couple of minutes, if that’s your preference.

Jill says that the flavor combinations are nearly endless. She often makes date, walnut, chocolate chip bars. She also recommends dried cranberries with white baking chips and chopped pecans, or chopped dried cherries, chocolate chips and chopped pecans. Jill says that you could also substitute maple syrup for the honey and add cinnamon instead of the vanilla.

Part of the fun, she says, is in the experimentation with different flavor combinations.

Jill also takes the opportunity to sneak in a little extra nutrition by adding things like collagen protein powder (1 scoop) and goji berry powder (1 heaping Tbsp) when she’s mixing the dry ingredients. They add no flavor and give a little boost to the nutritional value. Jill cautions, if you do add in things like this, cut back on the flour just a little bit, so that you don’t throw the proportions off.

PROJECT RATING: Easy

To watch Jill take you through the process, just click on the video player above.