Another granola bar recipe

This one came out fantastic. And … no falling apart like the previous recipe.

I found this one on Cooks.com & it was submitted by CM

I hope that if you try it, you enjoy it as much as we are.

(  ) is what we used

 

Ingredients:

3- 1/2 cup oats

2- 1/4 cup add-ins (mentioned below)

1/3 to 1/2 cup honey or molasses

1/2 cup brown sugar (organic, light brown)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 egg, beaten (farm raised free range from a friend)

2/3 cup butter, softened (organic unsalted used)

1 tsp vanilla (pure, organic)

The recipe states to toast the oats for 15-20 minutes at 350 before starting. I skipped that part.

Toss all ingredients together & mix well.

Press firmly into a 15x10 jellyroll pan (sprayed, oiled or papered)

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

Cool.

Cut into bars

forgot to take pix along the way. this is part of what was left when I remembered!

My add-ins were 1 cup dried cherries (cut up some), 1 cup chocolate chips & 1/4 cup organic raisins.

I used organic molasses instead of honey.

The cinnamon we have here is a ground Saigon Cinnamon… a bit more robust than everyday cinnamon.

They came out wonderful. I am not a huge fan of molasses, or so I thought, so I was skeptical that I would enjoy these. I knew hubby would love it so I made them. To my surprise, I liked them too! One of these days I will begin to experiment with some other add-in stuff like maybe flax or something. Hubby does not really like nuts but I’d like to see about getting some of those in there too, just chopped small. 

When I asked hubby which he liked better when comparing this recipe to the first one, he said ... either one is great, just dont make me eat those store bought ones anymore! LOL I love him!!!

Orange / Chocolate mint Fruit Water

I’ve shared how we tried a few flavor combinations of the newly discovered fruit / herb water …

Today we tried Orange with Chocolate mint.

Not too bad.

I used about half of an average sized orange, cut into about half inch thick slices, then cut in quarters.

I added a handful of mint leaves.

Kinda mushed the stuff in the jar & added 2 trays of ice cubes & filtered water.

I really enjoyed how mild this one tasted. 

I’m sure with more fruit and/or mint the flavor would be more robust. 

But that’s the beauty of making this water… you are in complete control & there is no right or wrong amount.

Life Without ... store bought granola bars!

compacted & pressed

Several weeks ago, or maybe longer now, I saw conversation about making your own granola bars. It has been on my list of new stuff to try for some time so I perked up when reading about it again. Presented in the conversation was a simple recipe to try. I copied it into a document & saved it. So there it sat, on my desktop, quietly waiting for me to open it back up & have a go at it.

ready for the oven

That day finally came over the weekend. I had to either go buy more or make some, as our stock pile was … gone. Hubby takes one to work every day as part of his lunch. I enjoy one on occasion & we always take a few with us when we go walking/hiking or for long rides.

fresh out the oven!

Let me say right now that I will not again buy any from the store. Not when homemade tastes this good & is so easy.

There are more varieties/recipes out there for granola bars than I know I’ll ever have time to try… and that is way cool to me. The varieties are now truly endless. No more limits by brand or price from the store. I love that.

Here is the recipe I used …

1/2 c pure cane sugar (I use organic sugar)

1/2 c softened butter (organic unsalted is what I used)

1/2 c real maple syrup (organic pure maple/agave blend I used)

1 egg  (farm fresh!)

1 tsp real vanilla extract (we have some organic on hand)

3 1/2 c oats

1 c optional add-ins (dried fruit, nuts, chocolate chips)

 (I used 1/3 cup each of chips, fig pieces & organic raisins)

Cream sugar and butter; add other ingredients one at a time in order of appearance. Mix well (using your hands is a treat :). Press onto cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes at 350. You can stir it about halfway through baking if you want "granola" or let it bake through and then cut into bars.

fully cooled & cut

Sounds simple enough right? It was. I used my jelly roll pan, lined with parchment paper. To get the thickness of what we’re used to in a granola bar, I pushed everything together more which is why the pan was not full. When it came out of the oven, it was obviously hot, & soft still, in the center. I put the whole thing on a cooling rack for maybe an hour. Then I pulled it out of the pan to let it finish cooling completely before I cut into it.

wrapped & ready!

My only issue right now is how to store them & make them portable as individual servings. I opted for plastic wrap but I really don’t like that. You know … that whole plastic thing. I’d be happier if it were wrapped in something else. Just not sure what.

I know one thing tho … with this new granola bar I could easily eat one every day as well. That means I’d be making more once a week!  This might not be a bad thing … And I am certainly looking forward to experimenting with all kinds of recipes & varieties!

Viable alternative to soda?

Ready for the Fridge

I was catching up on my Facebook feed the other day … just scrolling along when some beautiful jars of colored water with fruit & herbs caught my eye. A friend had posted a link to a blog where the writer was looking for something else to drink. Something other than plain water, soda, or fruit juice.

Enter this fruit water concoction. I loved it from the first word. Now, normally I would just read stuff like this, bookmark the page & sometime later maybe go back, find it & eventually try it out.

This time … I read about it & promptly got up to go make some. Yeah, just like that. See, I don’t drink nearly enough water. It gets boring. Just like the other blogger had mentioned. Here was something simple & fun to try.

So I wondered what I’d make my first batch with. The blogger had all kinds of recipes (well, okay, 5) & my mind was thinking to what I had on hand at home. And I did not add nearly as much fruit or herb as was listed in the recipes.

ready to drink

Batch one was raspberry, pineapple mint, & lemon.

Start with a 2 quart mason jar (or equivalent)

Raspberries were frozen from our bushes last year. I used a small handful. Less than a cup for sure.

The mint is from the yard. I used maybe 10 leaves.

The lemon was juice … maybe a teaspoon worth.

Now you are supposed to use a muddler to mush the fruit & crush the leaves … to release the flavors from both. I don’t have a muddler yet so I just used a wooden spatula/spoon thing… worked fine for now.

Add ice … I used 2 trays worth.

Add water to fill jar. I used filtered water.

Now you just stick it in the fridge & wait. When reading the bloggers post, she said it tastes best after 24 hours. Well, to be fair for a first time, we waited almost 24 hours. It's my understanding from reading more that 4 to 6 hours is sufficient.

Pineapple mint ready for fridge

Wow. Not bad at all. Hubby & I were both pleased with the results. What a wonderful fresh taste it had. Now, is it something we could replace soda with? I think perhaps we could. I do crave that fizz every now & then so perhaps we can mix this with some sparkling water or something on occasion.We could certainly replace the more concentrated big ol bottles of grape juice we're drinking.

We were so happy with the first batch, we looked to see what we had to try another. Batch 2 was pineapple & spearmint. It’s in the fridge now ….

There is a book out which has something like 50 recipes for flavor combinations to try. It’s on my Amazon wishlist … until then I will wander the internet looking for more flavor combos.

One small problem ... if we keep this up, I'm going to need my mint plants to grow faster. Or plant more. Or both!