Tasty Tuesday -Oatmeal Granola Bars

Today's recipe is one that was passed on to me by a Facebook friend. My daughter LOVES granola, but I have yet to find the perfect recipe. However, this one, after some tweaking, is pretty good. But it's more cake-like than you're average granola bar. (I prefer bars to crumbled granola.) I make a pan of this and leave it out on the counter and we snack off of it for a day or two til it's gone!

oatmeal granola bars

4.5 cups of oats (regular not quick)
1 cup whole wheat flour (my friend recommends white whole wheat from king arthur)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup coconut oil
3/4- 1 cup honey - depends how sweet you want it
1/2 cup pumpkin
then add chocolate chips, nuts, cranberries, whatever you want. About 1-1.5 cups.

Mix all together the dry ingredients, add the wet, then add your add-ins. The batter will be thick.
Pat into a large bar pan or regular cookie sheet. Bake at 325 for 25mins.

NOTE: I have used canola oil because I haven't purchased coconut oil yet.

You can use 1/2 cup peanut butter and 1/2 cup oil if you want a peanut flavor.

The original recipe calls for 2 eggs, but I use pumpkin instead. 1/2 cup of any fruit or vegetable puree will work. Or Ener-G egg replacer.

The recipe calls for a 9x13 pan, but I didn't like how thick the bars were.