Cranberry Almond KIND Bars

These are super yummy granola bars.  And lots cheaper than buying Kind Bars... holy mackerel!!  I'm going to add some oats and cut down on the nuts a bit to make them even cheaper so I'll post that recipe if it's a success...
You can swap out the nuts and add things like coconut etc. to customize these to your tastes.

Cranberry Almond KIND Bars

Prep time: 10 minutes       Cook time: 20 minutes       Yield: 15 bars

Ingredients

2 cups (230 g) raw whole almonds

1/2 cup (70 g) raw macadamia nut pieces (or cashews)

2 cups (60 g) crisp rice cereal

1 cup (140 g) dried whole cranberries

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 tablespoons (42 g) canola oil

1/2 cup (168 g) honey

1/4 cup (84 g) corn syrup

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 300°F. Line a quarter sheet pan (a shallow rimmed 9 x 13-inch baking sheet) with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.
• In a blender or food processor, place about 1/4 of the whole almonds and grind into a mostly fine powder.  Toast the remaining almonds and then chop them just a bit (some will still be whole).  In a large bowl, place the ground almonds, the remaining whole almonds, cashews pieces, rice cereal, cranberries and salt, and mix to combine well. Add the oil, and toss to coat. Add the honey and corn syrup and mix to combine well. The mixture will be very thick and sticky.
• Scrape it into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer. Use the back of your spoon to press down evenly with as much force as you can muster to compress the mixture into an even layer. Be careful not to allow large clusters of almonds to gather in the corners of the baking sheet, or they will not hold together when you slice the whole thing into bars.
• Bake until the mixture is lightly browned and bubbling (about 20 minutes). Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Without removing the bars from the baking sheet and using a butter knife, score the bars into 3 equal rows of 5 rectangles each. Allow the bars to cool for another 10 minutes before placing in the refrigerator until completely chilled (about 30 minutes).
• Remove the bars from the refrigerator and invert the bars onto a cutting board, with the parchment paper now on top. Peel off the parchment paper, and finish cutting 15 bars. Wrap each bar tightly in wax paper, and store in the refrigerator or freezer.