Homemade Granola Bars

I was planning my child's 2nd birthday party and decided to do a brunch. Weird, maybe....but I like breakfast! and I'm the mommy! I wasn't crazy about too many of the breakfast options - or had already tried what I was interested in. But the homemade granola bars looked good and I thought they would be worth a try and could be served for breakfast. From the recipe standpoint, it was easy to follow, worked like it was supposed to, and tasted quite good. The bars were tender but still held together well. I didn't have dates and apricots but I had some dried mango. That worked quite well, and my girls enjoyed the flavor. My 2 y.o. couldn't keep her hands off the dried mango when she was 'helping' me make these. This recipe could be tried with lots of different dried fruits. I also think it could be 'leaner'. Perhaps I would try applesauce instead of the butter? I may try some different variations in the future. But it certainly was nice to know exactly what was in a granola bar that I was serving to my kids!