Crunchy Granola Bars

Carson and I were on a granola kick this week, I think. We also made some crunchy granola bars. My SIL had posted this recipe from Ina Garten a couple of months ago and I've wanted to make them ever since. Another quick and easy recipe! And they taste so good, too! I think I like these better than the chewy granola bars, just because they're not so sweet. And I like the crunch. These will definitely be a regular thing for us now, for sure! We'll take some of these camping, too.

Granola Bar

2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ (I used ground flax so they'd be GF for camping)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup honey
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped pitted dates
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots (I used raisins)
1/2 cup dried cranberries (I substituted with chocolate chips :) )

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 by 12-inch baking dish and line it with parchment paper.

Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.

Place the butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dates, apricots, and cranberries and stir well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Wet your fingers and lightly press the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.

Granola

I needed to make a new batch of granola to take some on our camping trip. I had planned to just use my normal granola recipe, but Kevin asked that I try a plain and simple one... without nuts, fruit, etc. So he found a recipe on RecipeZaar that sounded good to him. I figured I'd give it a try since he rarely makes requests and has never went out to find a recipe! So I made it. Very quick and easy to throw together and it does taste good. I just prefer lots of other stuff in my granola. We'll use this granola in yogurt parfaits for camping and Kevin and Carson will eat it. I'll be making another batch of granola with more add-ins for me. :)

Quick and Crunchy Granola

3 1/2 cups oats
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup honey or maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt butter in microwave. Heat honey in microwave for 45 seconds. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Pour onto a baking sheet and spread evenly. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring after the first 10 minutes. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container for 1 week, or freeze.

Chewy Granola Bars

Carson and I started some food prep for our camping trip that is coming up next weekend. We made some chewy granola bars earlier this week. I had originally seen this recipe on Heavenly Homemakers and then my SIL made them. They sounded too easy and delicious not to make them... plus I've wanted to try making some chewy granola bars for about a year. I can't believe it took me this long to try a recipe for them! They are so easy to make - probably about 8-10 minutes of prep (and that is with a 2-year old helping), then spread in a pan and chill in the fridge. So simple! I'll definitely be making these regularly so I don't have to buy the super pricey ones at the health food store anymore. Carson absolutely loves granola bars (we all do) and these are no exception. He declared them "SO delicious!".

I made a double batch so we'd have plenty to eat for snacks this week and next, take camping, and still have some in the freezer. I also made this batch gluten free. Next time, I'll add some wheat germ or bran. I came so close to adding it to this batch before I remembered these needed to be gluten free for camping. I'll also add another cup of oats next time to make them more like the granola bars we're used to and probably a little less honey since they are so sweet. I calculated the cost of the way I made them this time. They ended up being about 25 cents per 1" x 3" granola bar. This was using all organic/sustainable or homemade (dried cherries/blueberries) ingredients.

Chewy Granola Bars

1/2 cup peanut butter or sunbutter
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 cup oats (I used a little more than 1 cup)
1 cup total of any combination of: sesame seeds, coconut flakes, sunflower seeds, dried fruit, mini chocolate chips (I used sunflower seeds, unsweetened coconut, raisins, dried cherries, dried blueberries, chocolate chips)

In a medium sized saucepan, melt together peanut butter, honey and coconut oil.

Remove from heat and add one cup of oats. Choose your favorite combination of coconut flakes, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, dried fruit and mini chocolate chips, to equal a total of ONE CUP. (I just got out my one cup measuring cup and poured in the ingredients until the cup was full.) Pour in and stir well.

Spread mixture into a 8×8 or 9×4 pan.

Chill for two hours, then cut into bars.

Wrap in plastic wrap for a quick grab and go snack! Keep in refrigerator or freezer.

Homemade Granola

I decided to make a batch of homemade granola this morning. I used my SIL Mary's recipe as a base and made a couple mods. I'm looking for ways to avoid buying cereal at the grocery store. I've recently read that Kelloggs is now using genetically modified ingredients in all of their cereals - I don't like that at all. And I'm just assuming that if Kelloggs has started, then the other large cereal companies aren't too far behind. There are some that I'm sure I'll still buy, like Kashi and some organic cereals, but I'd really like to limit the others. Not to mention, making our own granola will save us some money - which is always a good thing in these difficult economic times the entire country is experiencing.

This made our house smell so good as it was baking... well until I burned the second pan... and set off the smoke alarms - oops! :) I don't know how I burned it, really. I pulled it out to stir it and thought it could use just a couple more minutes to bake... so in the oven it goes for about two more minutes when I started smelling burning granola. Yeah, not good. But at least I got one awesome pan out of it! :) I tasted a little bit of it and it tastes so good! I'm excited to have this on hand. Here is Mary's recipe that I used and my modifications in parentheses. I'll update with a picture later on.

Granola

6 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups dried fruit (I used my home-dried raisins and cherries)
1 cup ground flax seed (I used golden flax seeds since I couldn't find the ground seeds)
3/4 cup wheat bran or wheat germ (I used 1 cup wheat germ)
3/4 chopped nuts (I used about a cup total of pecans and walnuts)
1/2 cup seeds (I used sunflower kernels)
1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
(2 Tablespoons vanilla)

Heat oven to 300. Mix all dry ingredients, except fruit. Microwave honey for 30 seconds. Stir (honey and vanilla) into dry ingredients. Mix well. Spray large baking sheets with cooking spray. Spread granola onto pans. Spray top with cooking spray. (I sprinkled the top with a cinnamon-sugar mixture). Bake for 30 minutes, stirring 2 or 3 times throughout. Add fruit half-way through. Let cool. Store in sealed container. Freezes well.