½ cup wheat germ
1 cup sliced almonds
½ cup of semisweet or bittersweet chips or chunks (about 3
ounces)
½ cup dried cranberries or cherries
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven
to 325 degrees. Grease a 9-inch baking pan with vegetable cooking spray. For
bars’ easy removal line the pan, from bottom up to the sides with a 9-by-18-inch
strip of heavy-duty foil, or baking parchment paper. Grease foil with vegetable cooking spray.
Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Turn into prepared pan
and pat down until firmly packed.
Bake until golden brown, and about 30
minutes. Cool to room temperature and
put pan in freezer.
When bar is firm, use foil handles to remove the pan. Remove
foil and use a long, sharp knife to cut bar into 16 1- by 4-inch bars. Can be
stored in an airtight container up to 1 week, or frozen.
Gluten-free variation: Follow recipe above, but instead of
wheat germ, use ½ cup rolled oats that have been finely ground in a food
processor.
Yield: 16 servings
Per serving: 206 calories, 31g carbohydrates, 5g protein, 8g
fat (3g saturated), 8mg cholesterol, 3g fiber, 32mg sodium