Chewy Granola Bars

2 cups rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour ¾ cup dried fruit (craisins, raisins, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, mangoes, apples, etc.)
½ cup flax seeds, flax meal or wheat germ
½ cup crispy rice or your choice of nuts
1 tsp salt (I cut it down to ½ tsp)
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ cup brown sugar

½ cup canola oil
½ cup honey
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9×13 pan with Pam, or double the recipe and put on a jelly roll pan. In a large bowl, stir together oats, flour, brown sugar, dried fruit, flax seeds, salt, cinnamon, and crispy rice/nuts. In a liquid measuring cup or bowl, thoroughly blend oil, honey, and vanilla; pour into oat mixture, and mix with spoon until the mixture is evenly coated. Press evenly into the prepared baking pan. Bake 25-30 minutes in the oven (it will still be very soft coming out of the oven). Cool completely in pan before turning out onto a cutting board and cutting into bars.  (If you turn it out while it’s warm, the mixture will fall apart, and you’ll get granola, or very misshapen bars.)