06-01-2008, 09:41 PM
I've recently taken to making my own granola bars. They are A LOT of fun to make, relatively easy and you can be sure that the ingredients are fresh, organic, whole grain or whatever you value in food.
Here's the recipe I've been using:
Ingredients:
-- 3 1/2 cups rolled oats (this is like Quaker Oats, but NOT the instant kind)
-- 1 cup soy or nut cereal (for protien)... Substitute any crushed cereal (all bran, cheerios, whatever)
-- 1 cup whole wheat flour (or 3/4 cup plus 1/4 cup flax seed meal)
-- 1 teaspoon baking soda
-- 3 tablespoons of “FiberSure” or "Metamucil" or other dissolvable fiber supplement
-- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-- 1 cup melted butter or margarine
-- 1/3 cup of brown sugar
-- 2 cups of dried fruit (or raisins, coconut, peanuts, chocolate chips etc., whatever flavours you like!)
-- 1 cup of honey (approx.)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325F. Spray 11×13 pan with non-stick spray or line with parchment paper.
2. Melt butter/margarine in microwave.
3. In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients (oats, flour, cereal, fibre, baking soda, brown sugar) with vanilla and the melted butter
4. One things are well-mixed, add in dried fruit (or nuts, raisins, chocolate chips etc) Then add as much honey as required to make everything sticky (usually about 3/4 of a cup - but it depends on your dry ingredients)
5. Firmly press ingredients into the pan. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. The bars will puff up around the edges a bit and the middle will still be soft. They will firm-up as they cool.
6. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes. Cut into bars and let cool fully in the pan before removing.
***
This is my third time making them, and they get better and better as I get better and better at making them!! The second batch flopped as I didn't use enough honey and butter. Too dry and crumbly.
The picture is of today's batch. Fruits I used were dried mango, dried cherries, dried strawberries and orange-flavoured Craisins (cranberries). YUM!!!!
Here's the recipe I've been using:
Ingredients:
-- 3 1/2 cups rolled oats (this is like Quaker Oats, but NOT the instant kind)
-- 1 cup soy or nut cereal (for protien)... Substitute any crushed cereal (all bran, cheerios, whatever)
-- 1 cup whole wheat flour (or 3/4 cup plus 1/4 cup flax seed meal)
-- 1 teaspoon baking soda
-- 3 tablespoons of “FiberSure” or "Metamucil" or other dissolvable fiber supplement
-- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-- 1 cup melted butter or margarine
-- 1/3 cup of brown sugar
-- 2 cups of dried fruit (or raisins, coconut, peanuts, chocolate chips etc., whatever flavours you like!)
-- 1 cup of honey (approx.)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325F. Spray 11×13 pan with non-stick spray or line with parchment paper.
2. Melt butter/margarine in microwave.
3. In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients (oats, flour, cereal, fibre, baking soda, brown sugar) with vanilla and the melted butter
4. One things are well-mixed, add in dried fruit (or nuts, raisins, chocolate chips etc) Then add as much honey as required to make everything sticky (usually about 3/4 of a cup - but it depends on your dry ingredients)
5. Firmly press ingredients into the pan. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. The bars will puff up around the edges a bit and the middle will still be soft. They will firm-up as they cool.
6. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes. Cut into bars and let cool fully in the pan before removing.
***
This is my third time making them, and they get better and better as I get better and better at making them!! The second batch flopped as I didn't use enough honey and butter. Too dry and crumbly.
The picture is of today's batch. Fruits I used were dried mango, dried cherries, dried strawberries and orange-flavoured Craisins (cranberries). YUM!!!!
