It’s no secret that I can hardly be pried away from a fresh batch of homemade butter pecan granola, but you know what *might* be even better than granola? These thick and chewy cherry pecan granola bars. I’ve tried dozens of recipes for granola bars over the years and have found a few really good ones. Some are crunchy, some are chewy (like, Chewy chewy…from the box), and then there are these…thick, chewy, and chock full of pecans, sour cherries, and figs. (As if I could leave out figs…you know me better than that!)
These are really almost a cross between a granola bar and a British flapjack (which is not, as it turns out, a cowboy pancake…go figure). What does that even mean? Weeeeeellll, they’re soft, but chewy, and the edges are ever so slightly caramelized. They are sweet and buttery, and filled with oats, dried fruit, coconut, and pecans. They are addicting. Like, make them and then give them away addicting.
This recipe is adapted from King Arthur Flour. I usually just throw in whatever fruit or nuts I have on hand. This time, I went for cranberries, figs, and pecans, but any dried fruit, nuts, or seeds will work (or even chocolate chips). I prefer at least one tart add in–cranberries, apricots, or sour cherries, and not too many nuts.
- 1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats
- 1/2 brown sugar
- 1/3 cup oat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup coconut
- 1/2 cup dried sour cherries
- 1/2 cup chopped dried figs
- 2/3 cup roughly chopped pecans
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
- 6 tablespoons melted butter
- 1/4 maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons honey
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
- Use about a teaspoon of canola oil to grease the bottom and sides of a 9×9 pan. Line with a piece of parchment paper, long enough to hang over each side. Lightly oil the parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine oats, oat flour, brown sugar, salt, coconut, cranberries, figs, and pecans.
- In a small sauce pan melt butter. Stir in maple syrup, honey, and peanut butter.
- Pour the butter mixture over the oats and stir until the liquid is evenly distributed throughout the oats. Pour the oats into the prepared pan, and using wet hands firmly press the mixture into the pan.
- Bake for about 30-40 minutes until the edges are deep brown.
- Allow to cool completely before cutting. (If you don’t care if the crumble, by all means eat them right away!)
Flapjack is such a strange name for an oat bar, isn’t it? Love the looks of these granola bars though, so many of my favourite flavours up in there!