Protein Bars

My mothers birthday is on leap year so she go to have a real birthday this year!
Don't feel bad for her though, when it isn't leap year, she celebrates her birthday the whole last week of February.
I really wanted to bake her something special for her birthday, but both my parents have been on a health kick for a while, working out all the time, watching what they eat; so I wanted to make something that she wouldn't feel guilty about eating later.
While looking through Crazy About Cookies by Krystina Castella ,(can be found at Kohl's  for 5 dollars), I found this recipe for protein bars and knew it was perfect for my moms 44th birthday.
She said that they were good, but I made the mistake of not realizing to get sunflower seeds without the shell and apparently that's hard to eat whole. Now we know!

Wild Honey Bran Protein Bars

1 1/2 flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups bran or bran oat multi-grain cereal, (uncooked)
1/2 cup golden raisins, (chopped)
1/4 cup dried apricots, (chopped)
1/4 cup dried cranberries, (chopped)
1/2 cup blanched almonds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 sesame seeds
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon honey, (heated in microwave for 15 seconds to thin)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a 9x13 inch pan with vegetable oil.
Combine the flour, cinnamon, allspice, baking soda, salt, and bran in a large bowl. Set aside.
Combine the rasins, apricots, cranberries, almonds, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Beat the oil, brown sugar, egg, applesauce, vanilla and honey until combined.
Gradually add the flour mixture until just blended, then stir in the fruit mixture until combined.
Spread the dough into the pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden.
Let cool in the pan, then cut into bars.