Granola Bars: Fail

When we were working on the house all the time, but hadn't moved in just yet, we made sure to keep a stock of quick and easy eats in the pantry. That included some granola bars that were no doubt not great for me, but very delicious all the same. I figured that I could surely recreate something similar and a quick Google search turned up a recipe for granola bars from Alton Brown. I decided to give it a go, with a couple of changes. The granola was delicious, but refused to remain in bar form. I don't know if I just didn't press it into the pan hard enough, or if I did something else to cause the poor results. It's not that big of a problem though, since this granola makes a great breakfast with a bit of soy milk. Yum! I'll definitely make it again, maybe give the bar thing another shot. If it doesn't work I won't be too upset. I'll just have a few great mornings ahead of me!

Granola Bars
Recipe from Alton Brown via Food Network; Makes 16 2" bars















2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 ounce unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 1/2 ounces chopped dried fruit, any combination of apricots, cherries or blueberries

• Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
• Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, and wheat germ onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved.
• Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

My notes: I was doing some other stuff in the kitchen at the same time, so I wasn't quite "immediate" with mixing the oat and liquid mixtures. Perhaps therein lies my problem. I bought toasted wheat germ, so I added it to the mixture post-toasting of the other ingredients. And for dried fruit I used apples and cranberries to recreate some of the flavor of the bars that inspired me in the first place.

Creamy or Crunchy? Peanut Butter Granola

I have been finding a lot of inspiration lately over at Everybody Likes Sandwiches and this is just one more recipe that turned out great. Seems like granola has been popping up everywhere, especially since Molly at Orangette posted her recipe for chocolate granola, which is waiting patiently for me on my to-cook list. But this peanut butter granola called out to me with a stronger siren song. And I'm glad I listened. I thought this recipe was really good and Josh loved it. It's also incredibly easy, so if you can stand the heat get in that kitchen and get some in the oven.

Peanut Butter Granola
Recipe from Everybody Likes Sandwiches; Makes about 3 cups












2 1/2 c oats
1/2 c wheat germ
1 t vanilla extract
2 T canola oil
3 T natural peanut butter
2 T brown sugar
3 T chopped chocolate (optional)

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, mix oats and wheat germ together. Set aside. In a small saucepan, heat up oil, peanut butter, vanilla and brown sugar over medium high heat and let it all get melty together. Pour hot mixture over oats and stir well, so that everything is covered. You may have to use your hands if your peanut butter mixture is extra stiff. Add chocolate, if using, and mix well.
• Spread mixture on a baking sheet or large glass baking pan and toast in oven for 20-30 minutes, checking on it and stirring it occasionally until mixture is dry. When cool, store in a tightly lidded container.

My notes: I used toasted wheat germ, as that's what I had. I also used regular old jarred peanut butter. Natural peanut butter probably tastes a lot better, but that's what was in my cupboard - and waste not, want not. I omitted the chocolate, want to try Molly's recipe before I go there, but I did toss in a handful of sunflower seeds that I had in the cabinet. This would make a great trail mix. Add in some raisins, dried apple, or banana chips. Maybe some pretzel bites and M&M's. Yummy!

Healthy Treat

Josh went back to the doctor today and got a prescription for Nexium (which incidentally is expensive without insurance), so hopefully he'll be on the road to recovery tomorrow morning. For tonight's dinner I made scrambled eggs, and some turkey bacon that I picked up on the way home. Josh has lost 7 pounds over the past week, so I figured he could use the protein. And to try and cheer him up I put together a little sundae for dessert.

Yogurt Banana Split
Recipe by moi
1 baby banana, peeled and split
low-fat vanilla yogurt
granola
maraschino cherry

• Pretty self explanatory- top the split banana with yogurt, then granola, and top with a cherry.

My notes: The cherry is key, in my opinion. The combination of the banana and cherry flavors really gives you that banana split taste. And it's really pretty good for you, especially since I used the low-fat granola I made a couple weeks ago.

Get Your Grains

Sunday evening I baked up a batch of low-fat granola to enjoy with my vanilla yogurt this week. This granola is great because it is so darn easy to make, and as opposed to most store bought granolas it isn't laden with fat and sugar. I like it with yogurt, but I also like to use it to top a slice of whole wheat toast with peanut butter & banana too. This would be great to use in parfaits and to delude yourself into thinking that bowl of ice cream is healthy, once you sprinkle this on top of course! This picture is courtesy of Martha Stewart, just as the recipe is.

Low-Fat Granola
Recipe from Martha Stewart; Makes 8 cups
4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup toasted wheat germ
1/2 cup flax seed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1 cup chopped walnuts
5 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
1/3 cup canola oil

• Heat oven to 300 degrees.with rack in center. In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, wheat germ, flax seed, cinnamon, ginger, sunflower seeds, and walnuts. In a small bowl, combine molasses, oil, and 1/3 cup water, and pour over the oat mixture; stir until well coated. Spread evenly in two baking pans.
• Bake, stirring every 20 minutes or so for even cooking, until dry and lightly browned, about 45 minutes. Let granola cool to room temperature, then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

My notes: I usually make a half-batch, cause it really would take the two of us a while to eat our way through 8 cups. I have to be very careful to not over-bake this, because without sugar it is a fine line between sweetly toasted and crisply burned.