Granola Bars

March 19, 2010 by Susan

It’s a challenge to find a healthy snack, something that tastes good and satisfies your hunger. Of course, granola bars come to mind immediately as a healthy, portable snack however many of them either don’t taste so great or they are filled with unnecessary sugars. That puts the ‘healthy’ granola bar in line with a candy bar. Not healthy.

I have been making my own granola for years, why on earth I never actually took things a step further and made granola bars is beyond me. But the time has come. Healthy snack desperation has led me here.

I set out to make a tasty bar that doesn’t have much sugar in it – the only sweetener is from honey and the dried fruit. No other sugar is added to these bars. I remember that Ina Garten had made granola bars so I decided to consult her recipe first. She’s my go-to girl. But as many of us know, my go-to girl loves butter and sugar! So this recipe is based on hers (loosely). I made several adjustments.

These granola bars are mostly crunchy yet slightly chewy – a perfect mix. They crumble just a bit and are not overly sweet. In fact, they are not really sweet at all. Just satisfying.

The next time you want to reach for a healthy snack, grab one of these babies!

Here’s what you will need to make approximately 12 bars…

Recipe

2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal (not instant)

3/4 cup sliced almonds, roughly chopped

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup toasted wheat germ

2/3 cup honey

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cup chopped dried fruit such as cranberries, apricots & raisins

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8×10 baking dish with cooking spray and then line with parchment paper, leaving some extra paper hanging over the edges.

Toss the oatmeal, almonds, walnuts and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 12 – 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ.

While the oatmeal mixture is toasting, gather your dried fruit and chop into small pieces (apricots).

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.

Place the honey, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl and whisk together. Pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dried fruit and stir well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Now it’s time to press down the mixture. I find the best method is using a scrap piece of parchment paper and just press down on it with your entire palm. Keep pressing until the mixture is tightly packed. Don’t neglect the corners.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until medium golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. (Best to use a serrated knife, gently sawing back and forth. Try not to press straight down). Serve at room temperature.

I individually wrap each bar in plastic wrap and store in an air tight container. The bars will soften up a touch once stored this way.

Granola Bars

Author: Feasts And Fotos

Ingredients

2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal (not instant)
¾ cup sliced almonds, roughly chopped
½ cup chopped walnuts
1 cup shredded coconut
½ cup toasted wheat germ
⅔ cup honey
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1½ cup chopped dried fruit such as cranberries, apricots & raisins

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8x10 baking dish with cooking spray and then line with parchment paper, leaving some extra paper hanging over the edges.
Toss the oatmeal, almonds, walnuts and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 12 - 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ.
While the oatmeal mixture is toasting, gather your dried fruit and chop into small pieces (apricots).
Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F. Place the honey, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl and whisk together. Pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dried fruit and stir well.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Now it's time to press down the mixture. I find the best method is using a scrap piece of parchment paper and just press down on it with your entire palm. Keep pressing until the mixture is tightly packed. Don't neglect the corners.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until medium golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. (Best to use a serrated knife, gently sawing back and forth. Try not to press straight down). Serve at room temperature.

Granola Grabbers

November 11, 2008 by Susan

Who can resist a healthy cookie? Not me! Sure, these have the traditional butter and flour, however, the main ingredient is granola. I make my own, so that makes these cookies even more healthy. My prior post details my granola recipe, you can find it in the right hand column under Recent Posts.

This recipe is adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Granola Grabbers. I have made several changes to the recipe. First, I make my own granola instead of using store bought. In my granola I already have almonds and coconut, so they did not need to be added. I use other nuts in my granola, so now these cookies have walnuts and pecans in them. I omitted the peanuts and added chocolate and cranberries. In my opinion, a cookie should not be without chocolate! Particularly one with this many ingredients in it. Also, I cut back slightly on the butter using 13 tablespoons instead of 14. I noticed zero difference from the first time I made these using all 14 tablespoons. Next time I make them I will try it with 12, any less than that I think could be a problem.

These cookies came out delicious. I was apprehensive about bringing them to my parents house for everyone to try, thinking they would be adverse to a ‘healthy cookie’ and not like the oatmeal/granola taste. Oh, how wrong I was! They LOVED them. Even my ever-critical brother (that doesn’t even cook!)…he had six of them. My co-workers also loved them, they were a big hit.

Here’s my version of this healthy cookie…

Recipe

3 cups granola without fruit

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate, cut into chunks

1/3 cup wheat germ

13 tablespoons butter, room temperature

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 sugar

1 large egg

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup flour

Method

Make homemade granola (see recipe in right hand column under Recent Posts). Allow granola to cool. Put it in a large bowl and add the cranberries, raisins and wheat germ. Mix together.

Beat the butter at medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the sugars and beat for another 3 minutes or until creamy. Add the egg and salt and beat until well blended. Reduce speed to low and add the flour in three additions (not all at once). Mix until just incorporated, then steadily add most of the granola mixture. Once that is just blended turn off the mixer and add the remaining granola and all the chocolate, mixing by hand with a sturdy spatula.

Scoop out rounded tablespoons of dough. I use an ice-cream scoop. Pack the scoops between your palms and arrange the mounds on the baking sheet, lined with parchment paper. Flatten the mounds slightly with your fingers.

Bake for 12 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back midway. Cookies should be golden brown, but not firm. Allow to rest for 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Granola Grabbers

Author: Feasts And Fotos

Ingredients

3 cups granola without fruit
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup raisins
½ cup semi sweet chocolate, cut into chunks
⅓ cup wheat germ
13 tablespoons butter, room temperature
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ sugar
1 large egg
¼ tsp salt
1 cup flour

Method

Make homemade granola (see recipe in right hand column under Recent Posts). Allow granola to cool. Put it in a large bowl and add the cranberries, raisins and wheat germ. Mix together.
Beat the butter at medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the sugars and beat for another 3 minutes or until creamy. Add the egg and salt and beat until well blended. Reduce speed to low and add the flour in three additions (not all at once). Mix until just incorporated, then steadily add most of the granola mixture. Once that is just blended turn off the mixer and add the remaining granola and all the chocolate, mixing by hand with a sturdy spatula.
Scoop out rounded tablespoons of dough. I use an ice-cream scoop. Pack the scoops between your palms and arrange the mounds on the baking sheet, lined with parchment paper. Flatten the mounds slightly with your fingers.
Bake for 12 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back midway. Cookies should be golden brown, but not firm. Allow to rest for 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Homemade Granola

November 4, 2008 by Susan

You have to watch out with some store bought granola, they can be quite fattening. When someone wants to be healthy and they think that eating granola is a step in the right direction, it can be frustrating to learn how fattening some of them could be! Granola is usually associated with health and goodness. It should be heart-healthy and surely not something that will make us fat. We’ve got chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting to do that!

Granola is usually filled with nuts and yes, nuts can be fattening, but they are the good kind of fat. I think where the store bought versions get us is with the oils. They really go overboard cooking it in alot of oil…the more the granola is sticking together in clumps, the more oil and sugar they used to cook it. I use a very small amount of vegetable oil or canola oil, a heart-healthy oil.

I make my own granola and quite frankly will never again buy it from the store. There is simply no reason to. It’s beyond simple to make and I know exactly what I’m putting into it. Not to mention the store bought ones can be quite pricey! Also, I really love my granola to have a nice crunch to it and I’ve noticed some store bought ones just don’t measure up.

My favorite way to eat this granola is in low fat vanilla yogurt. Dear lord, it’s delicious. Not sure about you, but I like a little crunch in my yogurt. I add about 2 tablespoons of granola to the little cup of yogurt and mix it all up. So simple! I have this for breakfast often.

I usually make a large batch, it keeps well in an air-tight container for several weeks. I would say I make a batch every 2-3 weeks or so. I get a wave of panic over me when I see my stash is getting very low. I like to have it on hand all the time.

Here’s what you will need…

Recipe

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup canola oil or vegetable oil (i usually use just a touch less than a 1/4 cup)

1/4 cup agave nectar (or any good honey)

1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)

1/4 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.

Toss the oats, coconut, almonds, walnuts, pecans and cinnamon together in a large bowl. In a small bowl whisk together the oil, honey and vanilla extract (if you choose to include it). Pour the liquid mixture over the oat and nut mixture and mix well. You do not want the mixture to be soaked. You just want it coated and slightly moist. Most of the time I don’t even use all this oil/honey mixture if it starts looking too wet and clumpy. Use your judgement.

Pour into a large sheet pan (with a rim).

Bake until everything turns a nice golden brown color, roughly 20-25 minutes, stirring once or twice during cooking. You really must watch it, it goes from cooked just right to burnt VERY quickly. The color change is amazing, right?

And look, not one clump. Not one to be found.

Allow to cool completely before storing. I like to keep the granola in this ‘plain’ state, as opposed to adding in dried fruit. Once you add the fruit the shelf life decreases dramatically. However, it is a nice touch (change) to add some dried fruit to a small portion of the granola to eat immediately. I like adding dried cranberries and/or dried chopped apricots.

Homemade Granola

Author: Feasts And Fotos

Ingredients

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 cup sliced almonds
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup chopped pecans
¼ cup canola oil or vegetable oil (i usually use just a touch less than a ¼ cup)
¼ cup agave nectar (or any good honey)
¼ tsp cinnamon (optional)
¼ tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.
Toss the oats, coconut, almonds, walnuts, pecans and cinnamon together in a large bowl. In a small bowl whisk together the oil, honey and vanilla extract (if you choose to include it). Pour the liquid mixture over the oat and nut mixture and mix well. You do not want the mixture to be soaked. You just want it coated and slightly moist. Most of the time I don't even use all this oil/honey mixture if it starts looking too wet and clumpy. Use your judgement.
Pour into a large sheet pan (with a rim).
Bake until everything turns a nice golden brown color, roughly 20-25 minutes, stirring once or twice during cooking. You really must watch it, it goes from cooked just right to burnt VERY quickly.
Allow to cool completely before storing. I like to keep the granola in this 'plain' state, as opposed to adding in dried fruit. Once you add the fruit the shelf life decreases dramatically. However, it is a nice touch (change) to add some dried fruit to a small portion of the granola to eat immediately. I like adding dried cranberries and/or dried chopped apricots.