Cool recipe alert: Superfood chia granola bar

Developed as a healthy snack option for students at Old Trail School in Bath, Ohio, these granola bars check off a lot of superfood boxes. Executive Chef Jay Williams, with Metz Culinary Management at Old Trail School, loads up the popular granola bars with chia seeds, honey, wheat germ and dried fruit. The honey is a special feature of the bars; it’s gathered from bees on campus. The beehives are part of the school’s new Edible Education program, slated to kick off in the spring semester. The program will also include maple syrup tapped from nearby trees and cultural cooking lessons woven through school subjects like history and math.

YIELD: 1 (2”) hotel pan of granola bars

11 cups oats
½ cup chia seeds
½ cup flax seeds
3 cups sunflower seeds
½ cup wheat germ
1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsps. cinnamon
2 tsps. nutmeg
½ cup neutral oil (safflower works well)
6 cups honey
1 ½ cups soy-based peanut butter replacement or nut butter
2 Tbsps. vanilla
4 cups any dried fruit or dried fruit mix (raisins, cranberries, blueberries, cherries, apricots)

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Toss oats, sunflower seeds and wheat germ along with cinnamon and nutmeg in ½ cup oil and spread on 2 large sheetpans. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.
2. Heat honey very gently in small pan or microwave, and whisk together with soy-based replacement butter or nut butter. Add flax seeds, chia seeds and vanilla to liquid mixture.
3. While oat mixture and liquid mixture are still warm, stir together to coat. Press firmly into well-greased hotel pan and return to oven on low fan for 25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into desired size/shape.

Recipe: Jay Williams, Metz Culinary Management executive chef, Old Trail School