I'm Baaack

Thought the blog had died, did ya? Not quite. Life just got really busy over the summer and the craziness continued right through the fall. Cameron was busy with work, then we vacationed pretty seriously in August. When we returned to Durham in September Cameron jumped right into classes and I got swept up in work, my involvement with the Fuqua Partners Club and having fun with the great friends. Oh yeah, and we continued to do some serious vacation travel through October/November. I'll define what serious vacationing means in a future blog, but don't worry, all of the vacation travel has been lots of fun.

On top of general life, you may recall that Cameron and I have a wedding coming up. There's a lot of behind the scenes meltdowns planning going on and I'll give updates here and there as to how all of that is going.

For now, I was completely inspired to blog by, what else, food! I've been completely addicted to Pinterest for the past couple of months. It dubs itself as a virtual pinboard and it's basically a huge time suck, like Facebook. You can read more here. A couple of months ago I saw a recipe for granola bars that caught my attention. I LOVE Quaker Oats granola bars, but I don't love all of the sugar and preservatives that are in them. I was psyched to find a recipe for these delicious snacks.

The tips on the Pinterest post were very hepful, and rather than rewriting them all, I'm going to paste the whole recipe the way I found it. A couple of my own notes before you jump in. I bought my granola at the local farmers market. It came with sunflower seeds and pecans and had been wood-fired with some honey. Therefore, I only used 1/4 C. of brown sugar (see note #2, below) and 1/4 C. of toppings (see note #3, below). Also, I used toppings that were readily available in my pantry. In this case, butterscotch chips, chocolate chips and raisins. The bars were delicious, Cameron LOVED them, but for batch #2 I bought a dried berry mix and used a mixture of almonds, pecans, and walnuts. I like the dried fruit with this recipe, but you can't go wrong either way. This recipe is very versatile so go ahead and be as creative as you'd like. Enjoy:

Tips for perfect granola bars:

1. Start with a plain, low-fat, low sugar, granola for best results. If your granola is large or has a lot of big clusters, make sure to crush it up beforehand.

2. After some tips from readers, I started using 1/4 cup of brown sugar in the recipe instead of 1/2 cup and I think it’s better that way. I honestly can’t taste much of a difference in the sweetness of the granola bars and using less sugar is always better if you can get away with it.

However, I have found that using various kinds of granola (and probably rice cereal as well) can have a big affect on how much brown sugar you need for those bars. I believe that any issue with the bars being too hard or too soft are a result of this. My recommendation at this time is to start with 1/4 cup brown sugar to prevent them from being too hard, but if they wind up being too soft, then increase it to 1/2 cup brown sugar next time.

3. Make sure the dry ingredients are well coated with the sugar mixture to make sure the bars stick together well. If you add in more ingredients than the recipe calls for (extra nuts, seeds, etc.) make sure to reduce the amount of granola and rice cereal a bit to compensate.

4. Use a sturdy spatula to spread the ingredients into the pan and press down firmly to make sure the ingredients will sufficiently stick together. The bars should always be pressed to about 1/2 – 3/4 inch thick. You don’t want them thinner or they could be too soft. I always use two 9×5 loaf pans which are the perfect size and also makes them easier to cut up. I’ve been told the 13×9 pan that the original recipe called for is too large, so if you are using that size pan I would recommend increasing the ingredients by 1 1/2 or even doubling the recipe.

5. It’s easier to cut into the bars when they are still a little warm. Originally I had recommended that you refrigerate the bars, but I’ve found that refrigerating too long can lead to hard bars, so it’s best to let them set at room temp.

Peanut Butter/Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Bars

adapted from Rachel Ray

Snack, Dessert | Servings: 18 servings

Prep time: 0 | Cook time: 5 min | Total time: 25 min

Ingredients

4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar (see tips above)

1/4 cup honey

2 cups plain granola

1 cup rice cereal (Rice Krispies, etc.)

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup peanut butter chips

Process

Line two 9×5 loaf pans or one 11×7 inch baking pan (see tip #4 above if you want to use 9×13) with foil or parchment. Lightly butter or spray the foil. Set aside.

Combine honey and butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in brown sugar after butter starts to melt.

Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat.

Add the granola and rice cereal into the saucepan and fold them into the sauce until evenly coated.

Spread the mixture into the prepared pans and press firmly with a spatula to evenly fill. Sprinkle the chocolate and peanut butter chips onto the top of the granola and gently press them down with the spatula.

Let sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes or until mostly cooled and set; lift out of the pan and cut into bars.

 

S’mores Chewy Granola Bars

adapted from Rachel Ray

Snack, Dessert | Servings: 18 servings

Prep time: 0 | Cook time: 5 min | Total time: 25 min

Ingredients

4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar (see tips above)

1/4 cup honey

2 cups plain granola

1 cup rice cereal (Rice Krispies, etc.)

2 tbsp. graham cracker crumbs (optional)

1 cup mini marshmallows

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Process

Line two 9×5 loaf pans or one 11×7 inch baking pan (see tip #4 above if you want to use 9×13) with foil or parchment. Lightly butter or spray the foil. Set aside.

Combine honey and butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in brown sugar after butter starts to melt.

Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat.

Add the granola, rice cereal and graham cracker crumbs into the saucepan and fold them into the sauce until evenly coated. Very gently fold in the marshmallows.

Spread the mixture into the prepared pans and press firmly with a spatula to evenly fill. Sprinkle the chocolate chips onto the top of the granola and gently press them down.

Let sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes or until mostly cooled and set; lift out of the pan and cut into bars.