Chris' Grainola Bars

I was inspired by several cookbooks with various recipes for granola bars. It's apparently the "it" thing to do these days.  Needed one without chocolate or nuts (low in nickel), so I combined several ideas, mainly coming from the Kitchn. These are vegan as long as you use brown rice syrup, maple syrup or agave.  Great for roadtrips, keeping in the pantry for snacks, lunch boxes or while running errands.

METHOD

Mix in a large bowl:
1.5 C oats
1 C crisped rice cereal
1/2 C millet (optional)
1/2 C dried cranberries
1/4 C dried goji berries
1/2 C shredded coconut

Warm in the microwave:
1/2 C brown rice syrup (or use honey or maple syrup)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Mix wet and dry together.

Press into a 9x9 pyrex pan (I used waxed paper to keep my hands clean).  Really press it together (better chances of cutting into clean squares later). 

Bake at 325 F for 20 minutes.

Let them cool overnight before trying to cut into squares/rectangles. I cut half the pan while warm and they fell apart into crumbs. The other half of the pan, I conquered the next day, and they had hardened so that they could be cut into these nice rectangles!

Store in an airtight container.