Sunday, January 31, 2010

Homemade Granola Bars

Our family likes granola bars. A lot. The problem is, they can be pricey. The cheap ones might as well be candy bars because of the ingredients. I found a recipe online and decided to make some this weekend!

First, we added the oats and wheat germ.


Then came the nuts. Sunflower seeds, and crushed almonds, peanuts, and cashews. The recipe called for 1 cup of peanuts, so we did 1/2 cup peanuts, and 1/4 cup of each almonds and cashews. Ok, so I may have added more peanuts after that. I wanted them to be peanutty. I also added in some flax seed.


The recipe got split in half and roasted in the oven for about 10 minutes.


While the dry ingredients were roasting, I made the "glue", which is brown sugar, honey, and vanilla. The recipe calls for salt, but I left it out.


When the glue is done, mix in with the dry ingredients, and add any dried fruit or other stuff. I added craisins and gold raisins to "my" batch. Smoosh the mix down in a pan, and make sure there's a layer of waxed paper above and below.


I added craisins and semi-sweet chocolate chips to David's batch. Oops, what do you get when you add chocolate chips to hot granola mix? A chocolately mix! Next time, I'll wait for the glue to cool a bit then try adding the chips. Or maybe I'll press the chips in the top of the pan.


Let this cool for a while. You can put it in the fridge if you're impatient. Then, put the pan-sized bar on a cookie sheet and cut it into bars!


Waalaa. Bars.


Then wrap them in plastic wrap!


This is another easy recipe we'll be able to make every week (or when needed), and we'll actually be able to pronounce all the ingredients in the bars, unlike the ones from the store.

I have one more cooking post to add, but two posts in one day is enough for me! I'll try to post it tomorrow.

5 comments:

Jen said...

Those look great.

Becky said...

That recipe is so delicious! Great tip about the melted choc. chips. I was going to try them in my next batch and would have done the very same thing :) They look great!

Linda said...

I'm stopping at your garden stand this summer. Fresh vegtables, butter, eggs and granola bars. Mmmmmmm!

Deb Johnson, Quiltbeeme said...

Those look so good! I bet they taste really yummy! I am so proud of you for wanting to eat food that you know what's in it and where it came from! I am sure it tastes much better than the store bought where they use the cheapest ingredients and added chemicals. I know the store bought wouldn't use real butter or real brown sugar. Mark said they have released a Pepsi that they call Vintage or something like that, but it's made with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. He said it tastes less sweet and better. The modern recipes of processed food don't even taste like the processed foods I grew up with. Dextrose does not taste like real sugar. Good job hon! You are making a difference! Love you, Momma

katiegirl said...

Yes, Pepsi Throwback! We bought some at Foodlion. David said he didn't feel the "need" to drink as much as the regular Pepsi! I'm hoping sales are good and other companies switch to real sugar as well! At least that would be 1 source of high fructose corn syrup gone!

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