Happy Friday everyone!

Hope you are enjoying the week and the beginning of the month. I’m sure everyone has thought about making their own granola, and adding your personal touch (with this I mean to put the things you like, the flavors you prefer) cause it is so easy to make. Yes, it is easy, but then, when you want to turn that granola into bars or squares or whatever shape you want, it requires a little more effort. But do not worry,  you can practice as much as you want until you get them perfect.

This is the very first time I do them and it took me around 20 minutes to have all the ingredients together. So here is what you need:

• wooden spatula
• 1 squared pyrex
• 1 medium bowl
• parchment paper

Ingredients

• 1 cup oats
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup nuts
• 1/8 cup linseeds
• 1/8 cup chia seeds
• 12 dates
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon (add more if you want stronger cinnamon flavor and smell)

  This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Directions

There are some optional steps you can do, as chopping the nuts and toast them together with the oats in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes to add some flavor and texture (in my case I bought toasted nuts, so skipped this step).

1. Mix oats, nuts, almonds, linseed, chia seeds, salt and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.
   

   
2. If you have a food processor, cut the dates until you form a paste. *If you don’t have a food processor – like me – take a knife and cut until you have a paste looking like mixture, it will be sticky and needs to be finely chopped.
3. To the date paste, add half of the honey and the other half to the oats mixture.
4. Next, mix everything together. you can use the wooden spatula or your hands. The mixture will be very sticky, so it will be very funny to do (at least it was for me).

   

5. Once you see the whole mixture kind of holds the form, place it in the pyrex (previously covered with parchment paper) and press it with your hands or use something else with a flat end. I used the bottom of a measuring cup. Make sure it is flattened up evenly and place it in the refrigerator for about 1 hour, or until is firm. 
6. Take out of the fridge and cut your pieces. The amount of bars or squares you will get depends on the size you cut them. I got 16 squares.
   

   
7. Store them in an air tight container in the fridge for up to one to two weeks, or freeze them for longer storage.

They are easy to take on the way to work, school or just a mid afternoon snack. You can replace ingredients or add more in order to get different flavors, but now you can experiment at home.

IMPORTANT TIP: If with the amount of honey/dates paste your mixture does not get sticky enough, try adding more dates. Be careful here cause you don’t want a super sweet granola mixture, so make sure you are not over adding dry ingredients also.

Hope you enjoy and try this recipe!

Remember to include fruits and vegetables on your daily diet. Drink water and stay active.