Fruit & Nut Granola Bars

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup of wheat germ (or substitute Wheatena Whole Wheat Cereal)
1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
3/4 cup of dark brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon of kosher or other sea salt
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
4 dashes of nutmeg (optional)
2 cups of fruit (this can be any dried fruit of your choice including: apricots, prunes, raisens, cherries, cranberries, dates, figs, coconut, blueberries, etc, and you may even used chopped fresh apples if desired. Variations are key, make them to your liking!) Chop any larger pieces down to appx. 1/4 inch bits.
1/2 cup chopped nuts of your choice

Wet Ingredients:

1 egg
1/2 cup of honey
1/2 cup of olive oil
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Mix dry ingredients extremely well, mix wet ingredients seperately until very smooth, pour into dry ingredients and mix well. Consistency should be that of half-melted ice cream. If dry, drizzle on soy milk until more moist, you want the mixture to be gummy enough to hold a ball shape but not runny.

Put mixture in foil-lined pan, spray with Olive Oil Pam beforehand. Make flat with a fork, surface should be somewhat glassy. Bake at 350 degrees until brown on top, about 40 minutes. Lift foil and bars out of pan, let cool slightly on rack. Cut into 1 to 2 inch wide bars while warm. Batch should make about 16 to 20 bars. These can be frozen for later use.

Variations:

1/2 cup peanut butter instead of honey (for very strong nutty flavor)

1 cup mashed banana instead of honey (for very strong banana-nut bread flavor)

Applesauce to moisten instead of milk