Ohio Oat and Seed Bars

Since Molly has been studying her tail off for the past 3 months, I thought she could use a little tender loving care in the form of sweet, chewy, good for the soul Oat and Seed Bars.  The name of the recipe is particularly fitting since Molly will be calling Columbus, Ohio home in a few short weeks!

These are basically granola bars packed full of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, raisins and lots of honey.  You can always switch up the mix-ins to suit your personal preference.  Oh, and I definitely think these are tasty enough to qualify as dessert!

Ohio Oat & Seed Bars 

Source: Recipe by Tricia Wheeler, as seen on Design Sponge

Ingredients

1 stick of unsalted butter, more for greasing the pan

3/4 cup honey

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 cups steel-cut oats (I used rolled oats)

1 cup pumpkin seeds

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup golden raisins

pinch of salt

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan, and then line the sides with parchment paper.

2. Melt the butter, honey and brown sugar in a large saucepan — watch and stir until the caramel forms, about 5 minutes. Stir in oats, seeds, raisins and salt; cook for 3 minutes.

3. Scrape mixture into a prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake for about 20 minutes until brown on the edges.

4. Let cool completely in the pan. Run a knife along side edges of the pan, cut them in half and then slice them into bars. The bars keep up to 3 days at room temperature and up to a week if refrigerated.