Granola Bars

I am always on the look out for a new granola bar recipe.  Here's the latest based on the recipe from a friend at church.

Melt together:
1 cup honey
2/3 cup peanut butter
1 cup dates, finely chopped

Take off heat and add:
2 tsp vanilla
1½ tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt

Mix together:
3 cups Rice Krispies
2 cups oatmeal
1 cup coconut
2 cups dried cranberries
2/3 cup total sunflower and / or pumpkin seeds
2/3 cups chopped pecans or almonds

Stir the wet and dry together and press onto a large, greased cookie sheet.

I love this recipe because you can sub whatever you have on hand.  This time, some crushed Vector supplemented the krispies.  The original recipe called for an additional cup of dried apricots.

Gooey Caramel Popcorn

I have this distressing habit of throwing stuff together to see if it works.  When it does, I have to guess what my proportions were so I can repeat my success.

So I've "thrown" this together a few times and it's always yummy.  This is my best guess for amounts.

¼ cup butter
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup mini marshmallows

Melt those together in a saucepan.

I'm too impatient, but almonds or pecans and a tsp of vanilla, mixed in after the sauce is off the heat, would be really yummy.