Chewy Granola Bars

I'm so excited about this recipe!  I've been looking for a good recipe for granola bars that doesn't use corn syrup or tons of sugar, for a while now.  I've had failures, here is one example.  These bars are adapted from a recipe I found in Whole Living magazine.  You could use whatever dried fruit you have on hand, and if you want to add nuts or seeds, that would be fine too!  Hope you enjoy them as much as we did! 

Ingredients:

3 cups whole oats
4 tbsp ground flax meal
1/2 cup craisins
1/2 cup raisins
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp coarse salt
1/2 cup peanut (or any nut butter) butter
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup real maple syrup or honey
1/4 tsp vanilla exract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x8 inch pan with coconut oil or olive oil and line with parchment paper.  Combine the first six ingredients and mix together.  In another bowl mix together the wet ingredients and stir to combine.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together.  Press mixture evenly into the pan with your hands.  Bake until the bars are golden brown and firm, about 30 minutes.  Let cool completely and remove from pan.  Store bars in an airtight container for up to 3 days.