Basic Spiced Crunchy Bars

Here's the recipe for the first batch of bars that I've made at the new apartment! If you make these bars, feel free to edit the variety of nuts/ fruit/ spices that you use. I just used the ingredients I had available to me, since I didn't want to run to the store.

Basic Spiced Crunchy Bars
By Caroline Mac
Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups rolled oats
1 1/4 cups unsweetened soy milk
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup almonds
4 dried figs
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup Joe's O's, Cheerios, etc.
1t Vanilla extract
1t pie spice

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a food processor, rough chop the almonds and figs. Combine those, along with all other dry ingredients, excluding the O's cereal,  in a large mixing bowl, stirring thoroughly.

Step 2: Combine all wet ingredients in a separate bowl and blend thoroughly. Add to dry ingredients and stir until completely blended/ mixed. Let mixture sit for about 10 minutes, or until most of the milk is absorbed by the oats.

Step 3: Add the cereal to the mixture and immediately spread in a baking pan lined with parchment paper, making sure there is an even thickness throughout and the bar "dough" goes all the way to the edges of the pan.

Step 4: Bake for around 30 minutes, or until bar seems firm and doesn't have a lot of extra moisture. Your bake time will probably vary depending on how long you let it soak and the thickness of your bars.

Step 5: Remove from pan and let cool before cutting into individual bars. Refrigerate once they are completely cool.

Enjoy!