Oatmeal Granola Bars

Last night after work I had the most fabulous evening.  Met a friend in Bryant park for a little to soak up some rays.  Met Jvo for a great Sushi feast in Murray Hill.  Slowly walked my way home and got my life situated. I am trying to organize my life a little bit seeing as we are moving in just 2 short weeks... assuming we ever find an apartment (another post... another time).  Welp, organizing my life consisted of the usual.  You know how it goes, vacuuming, bills to pay.. and of course for this girl- BAKING!

I haven't baked in a while so I was very excited to do so! It is my college reunion this weekend and you know what that means- roadtrip!  So of course, snacks needed to be made.  Yesterday I reached out to the twitter community, specifically some lovely ladies over to help me think of a fun recipe for on the go granola bars to take with me in the car.

Well Anne never fails me and helped me out with these amazing Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Granola Bars.  I made some slight tweaks and they really hit the spot.  As you guys know, I really love my raisins.  More than that, the chocolate and dried fruit combo really hits the spot for me. Well, I guess I kind of failed at the whole Only Eat What You Have Challenge because 2) I didn't have chocolate chips and those were purchased and b) I don't know if going out to dinner with friends counts as following the challenge but I have a sneaking suspicion that it does NOT.  O well, if chocolate and dried fruit does the same for you as it does for me, check out the below!

Ingredients:
2 cups instant oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped walnut
1/8 cup chocolate chips
1/8 cup raisins (I went with white raisins to mix things up)
1/8 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 and 1/2 cup skim milk
2 tablespoons egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla 

Steps:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2) Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl
3) Combine all wet ingredients in a separate bowl
4) Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix until combined
5) Pour batter into a pam-ed pan (11×7).
6) To make it look pretty- sprinkle raw oats on top
7) Bake for 30 to 40 minutes (depending on how crunchy you want them to be)
8) Remove, let cool and cut into 15 squares.
9) Enjoy!

These are soooo good :)

Not sure how well they will travel but I will find out soon enough, I brought one to work for dessert after my lunch!

I would definitely give them a Star Fabulous Rating of at least 8/10! They are chocolatey and fruity and nice and gooey.

Star Fabulous Rating: 8/10 

My first granola bars with a success- Thanks Anne for sharing your recipe!