Honey-Sweetened Almond Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

September 2023 and the house is officially down to three children at home: Mason, sixteen, now a junior; Noah, eleven, in sixth grade. The absence of Olivia is different from Ethan's two-year absence — this is a college absence, not a mission absence, which means she calls regularly and comes home for weekends and fills the house with herself in burst visits that remind me how much she takes up space in the good way when she's here.

She called Sunday and described her first week: the classes, the roommates, the cafeteria food that she said was "functional but emotionally empty." I said I'd send care packages. She said, "Send the granola. And the lemon curd." I said I would. I will every month until she has a kitchen of her own.

The book is now a year and a half old and still being read. Susan forwarded me a message from a cooking educator in New Zealand who had assigned it to her class. New Zealand. My kitchen in American Fork, Utah, in a class in New Zealand. I keep being surprised by the radius of things. I was raised to think of kitchen work as local — the people at your table, the neighbors you fed, the church members you brought soup to. The radius expanding to 480,000 YouTube subscribers and a classroom in New Zealand remains slightly surreal, even now.

I hired the workshop coordinator. Her name is Jenny. She starts next week. She is organized and warm and has been teaching cooking at a church for four years. She'll handle the logistics. I'll handle the teaching. This feels like the right division.

When Olivia called and said “send the granola,” she didn’t have to say more — she meant these bars, the ones she’s been reaching for since middle school, the ones that sit in a tin on the counter and disappear without anyone admitting to taking them. They ship well, they hold together, and they taste like something made with intention rather than produced in a facility — which is exactly what cafeteria food, however “functional,” cannot replicate. I’ll wrap them in parchment, tuck them into a flat-rate box alongside the lemon curd, and they’ll arrive tasting like this kitchen, which is the whole point of a care package.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes plus 1 hour cooling | Servings: 16 bars

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup sesame seeds or flaxseed (optional)
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips (stirred in after cooling slightly)

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line an 8x8 or 9x9-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides for easy lifting.
Toast the dry ingredients. Spread the oats and almonds on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven for 10–12 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until lightly golden and fragrant. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add the shredded coconut, sesame seeds if using, salt, and cinnamon. Stir to combine.
Make the honey mixture. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the honey and coconut oil. Stir until melted and smooth, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
Combine and press. Pour the honey mixture over the oat mixture and stir well until every piece is thoroughly coated. Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes, then fold in the mini chocolate chips (waiting prevents them from melting entirely — a few streaks are fine and delicious). Transfer to the prepared pan and press the mixture in very firmly and evenly with the back of a measuring cup or your damp hands. The more firmly you press, the better your bars will hold together.
Bake. Bake at 325°F for 20–25 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the center looks set. The bars will still feel soft — that’s normal.
Cool completely before cutting. Let the bars cool in the pan for at least 1 hour at room temperature, or speed things up with 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Lift out using the parchment overhang and cut into 16 bars with a sharp knife. For clean cuts, chill fully before slicing.
Store and ship. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, or wrap individually in parchment and freeze for up to 2 months. For care packages, wrap each bar tightly in parchment and pack snugly in a tin or rigid container so they don’t shift in transit.

Nutrition (per serving)

Honey-Sweetened Almond Chocolate Chip Granola Bars — The Care Package Recipe She Asked For By Name