Jiffy Granola Bars

On a recent browse down the baking aisle at WalMart I spied a couple of new items on the bottom shelf.  I have always been a fan of Jiffy brand mixes.  Once on a bus trip to the basket factory in Ohio with my sister, we popped into a small town grocery store to get out of the rain.  I was so excited when I found several different boxes of Jiffy mixes.  I had no idea they made more then yellow cake and cornbread mixes.  There was a whole Jiffy world out there I knew nothing about.  I wrote to the company and they sent me a couple of cook books.  One of them being a camping cook book using all Jiffy mixes in the recipes.  I was thrilled and to this day I still have them and have written to the company for updated books since then and have them too.

On my grocery trip last week I found that our local WalMart has started carrying chocolate chip cookie and oatmeal cookie mixes.  I snatched up a couple of each.  Jiffy mixes are very handy to have.  One, they are cheap and two, they don't make a ton of cookies or cake or muffins.  When cooking and baking for a two person household, these mixes work out fabulously because by the time the twelve to fifteen cookies are gone we're pretty much over them for the day anyway. 

While using the oatmeal cookie mix last week I got to thinking that I could make granola out of it somehow.  What I came up with wasn't granola but granola bars!  My loving husband likes to have granola bars for a snack in his lunch box and I'll generally carry one in my packed lunch as well.  They are easy to make and very versatile because you can add raisins, chocolate chips, almonds, etc.  The possibilities are almost endless.  Have fun!

Jiffy Granola Bars

1 box Jiffy brand Oatmeal Cookie Mix
1/2 cup cereal (granola, corn flakes, whatever you have)
1/3 cup honey
1 beaten egg
3 Tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup fun stuff like chocolate chips, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line an 8x8 inch pan with aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray or brush with oil.  Mix all ingredients in a bowl and spoon into prepared pan.  Spread/press mixture throughout pan.  Bake for 30 minutes or until light brown around the edges.  Allow to cool on a wire rack.  Lift foil and goods out and remove the foil.  Cut once down the middle and five times across to make ten bars total.  Wrap each bar in plastic wrap and store in a Ziploc bag.  Eat whenever!