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Do-It-Yourself Power Bars

Makes 16 to 24 bars

1 tbs. coconut oil
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
1 1/4 cups chopped toasted walnuts (see “Recipe Add-Ons” Web Extra!)
1/2 cup oat bran
1 1/2 cups unsweetened crisp brown rice cereal
1 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
3 tbs. finely chopped crystallized ginger
1 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup natural cane sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. fine-grain sea salt

Grease the baking pan with the coconut oil. If you like thick power bars, opt for an 8-by-8-inch pan; for thinner bars, use a 9-by-13-inch pan.

Mix the oats, walnuts, oat bran, cereal, cranberries and ginger together in a large bowl and set aside. Combine the rice syrup, sugar, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat, and stir constantly as it comes to a boil and thickens just a bit, about four minutes. Pour over the oat mixture and stir until the syrup is evenly incorporated.

Spread into the prepared pan and cool to room temperature before cutting into whatever size bars you desire.

Recipe excerpted from Super Natural Cooking: Five Ways to Incorporate Whole and Natural Ingredients into Your Cooking by Heidi Swanson (Celestial Arts, 2007).