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| dry stuff mixed together |
It’s been forever since I made a post in here. Well, maybe
not quite forever, but a long time. I always have the best of intentions but
something always gets in the way it seems. It’s been a long winter up here in
the Northwest & Spring has finally sprung. You’d think with the cold, I’d
be inside more & writing more. Apparently not. And with the nicer weather,
I should be outside more. I’m getting there …
For now, I thought I would share a new recipe I found &
adapted for granola bars. I had run out & stayed out for probably close to
a month. Maybe longer.
Since I have managed to spoil my man with these homemade
lovelies, he was a bit bummed at not having any in his lunches for so long. I
finally got my butt in gear just a few weekends ago & got a new batch made.
I tried a whole new recipe this time too. He likes it! So, I made them again
today. This time I remembered to take a few pictures too. After all, recipes
& blog posts are always more fun with pictures right?
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| honey, sugar & molasses |
Ingredients:
1/2 to 2/3 cup local raw honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp molasses
1/2 cup organic peanut butter
2 cups oats
2 cups puffed cereal*
1/4 cup ground flax
1 cup total, of desired mix-ins*
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| peanut butter added |
Using a large bowl, add all dry ingredients & set aside.
In a small saucepan combine the honey, brown sugar &
molasses. Over medium heat, stir until sugar dissolves.
Remove from heat, add peanut butter & stir quickly to
combine.
Immediately pour over dry mixture & stir to combine.
Press into a lined 9x13 or so pan. Let cool to firm up.
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| adding choc. chips! |
Now, this all sounds simple enough. Here’s what I learned.
The recipe I first saw had you mixing/melting the sugar then mixing the dry
stuff. Lesson learned to mix the dry first & set aside. The honey/sugar/peanut
butter mix hardens FAST.
First batch I used a big plastic Tupperware mixing bowl.
Second batch, I just grabbed a glass bowl. I had more mix stick to the side of
the glass than I did the plastic. I’ll use plastic again next time. I’m
guessing the glass bowl was colder than the plastic & hence let the
honey/sugar mix harden faster when it hit the side.
And as you mix, it’s almost
handy to have another set of hands … one to slowly pour the mix while another
begins to stir. I ended up mixing with my hands to get the dry off the bottom
of the bowl.
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| first batch cut. |
*The mix-ins we used were a rounded 1/4 cup each of:
sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, fig pieces & raisins. The puffed cereal we
used was millet. No sugar added stuff. You could use rice crispies or whatever.
Millet was what I had at home & it worked well.
Once pressed into the pan, we added some chocolate chips
pressed in one by one. After they cooled completely & were cut, it makes 12
nice sized bars. You could easily make smaller bars & get 20 or so.
