In our quest to eat as much unprocessed food as possible, I decided to attempt to make my own granola bars. I eat a Clif Bar for breakfast on most mornings, and while they are dairy free and "mostly" organic, they still feature an ingredients list that is very, very long! Every couple of weeks I try my hand at making from scratch something that we normally buy ready-made. This was my first try at granola bars.
I googled recipes, and then combined and modified a couple to come up with the following.
Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (from theKitchn.com)
2 cups toasted old fashioned oats
1 cup rice krispie cereal
1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecan, walnut, almonds)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
3 Tbs. peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
Toast oats on baking sheet at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.
While oats are toasting, chop nuts. I buy bags of raw walnuts and almonds at Sam's or Costco, and we get pecans from Jimmy's parents' yard.
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Measure brown rice syrup into a glass measuring cup and microwave for about 15-20 seconds. Stir in vanilla, peanut butter and salt until well blended. Pour this mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Press into an 8x8 glass baking dish that has been lined with parchment paper. Spray non-stick spray on your hands and press the mixture into the pan. Bake at 325 for 25 minutes.
Using an oiled spatula, press the bars into the pan. Allow them to cool completely in the pan.
Once cooled, cut into 10 bars. Lift the bars out of the pan using the parchment paper.
Wrap each bar individually in plastic wrap to store.
Cinnamon Raisin Granola Bars (from theKitchn.com)
2 cups toasted old fashioned oats
1 cup rice krispie cereal
1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecan, walnut, almonds)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
Follow directions from the bars above, omitting the peanut butter and chocolate chips, and adding raisins and cinnamon instead.
Protein Bars (from OhSheGlows.com)
1 cup toasted oatmeal
1 cup rice krispie cereal
1/4 cup vanilla protein powder
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/8 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup chocolate chips
Combine oatmeal, rice cereal, and protein powder in a medium bowl. Microwave the brown rice syrup and peanut butter for about 1 minute. Stir in salt and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients. Stir until well combined. Spread into a shallow baking dish that has been lined with parchment paper. Microwave chocolate chips for about 1 minute, until melted. Spread the melted chocolate on top. Place in freezer for 10 minutes. Cut into 10 bars. Wrap each bar individually in plastic wrap to store.
My family has enjoyed these bars very much! I plan to make all three recipes again tomorrow afternoon, this time doubling each recipe.
I adapted Kimberly's from Raising Olives. I cut back on the wheat, but there is still some.
ReplyDeleteCombine 2 c oats, 1 c whole wheat (I go with 1/2 c wheat and 1/2 c flaxseed meal), 1/2 c brown sugar (I completely omit this), 1/2 c wheat germ (you could add more oats instead), 1/2 c raisins optional (I usually add cacao nibs instead).
In separate bowl combine 1/2 c oil (I split between olive oil and coconut oil), 1/2 c honey, 1 egg beaten (sometimes I use 2 eggs depending on size- it really holds the bars together nicely), 1 tsp vanilla extract.
Mix together and press into 9X13. Bake at 350 25 minutes or so. Let cool 5 min then cut. I wrap in plastic wrap to take on swim meets, etc. Honestly, my kids would like me to keep in the brown sugar, but I'm trying to cut out all sugar and I think the honey is enough.
Celee
These recipes look great! Thank you for sharing :). What is brown rice syrup? What could you use in its place?
ReplyDelete