Good Morning Monday {homemade granola bars}
Monday, September 22nd, 2008
Good Morning Everybody! Wondering where I have been? Well, you will have to wait for Friday to find that out! Nevertheless, I had a great weekend. I have been doing very well at keeping my to-do lists handy and near by, and I must say that keeping them daily makes my life a lot easier. How do you all plan your days? Do you jot down everything that you have to do in a planner or list or do you just float with the wind?
So, Saturday the little one and I decided to make some homemade granola bars. If you check the ingredients and nutrients in the granola/cereal aisle, you will find all sorts of unknown items or the really healthy ones(especially the protein bars and energy bars taste really bad, although I love the Luna Bars & Clif Bars)! So we used the recipe below to make our own and I must say that it was super easy and very yummy! I actually used a pretty small pan and may have used a bit less marshmallows. You can add so many wonderful things to this recipe like: whole chocolate chips, dried cranberries, raisins, dried blueberries, a yogurt based icing, dried strawberries/apples, and the list goes on and on! I added chocolate chips to this recipe but you can leave them out for a lighter granola bar! These bars are a great alternative to oatmeal cookies or chocolate chip cookies or even candy bars! My family loved them! You could also add all sorts of energy boosters like ginko & protein to make some yummy energy bars.
Home Made Granola Bars
Granola Mixture
4 C. Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
1 C. Chopped Pecans or Almonds
1 Tbsp. Sesame Seeds
1/2 tsp.Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Freshly Ground Nutmeg
1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
1/2 C. Honey
4-8 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, Melted
1 C. Chocolate Chips
Directions: Heat oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheets with parchment; set aside. In a large bowl, toss together oats, sunflower seeds, pecans/almonds, sesame seeds, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
In a small bowl, stir together honey and butter; pour over oat mixture. Stir well. Spread onto sheets. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool and break up granola.
Making The Bars
4 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter
10 oz. Marshmallows
Granola Mixture Above
Directions: LIGHTLY Butter a 9-inch-square baking pan; set aside. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add marshmallows; stir until melted. Remove from heat & let cool a bit. Stir in granola mixture until well combined. Transfer your mixture to your pan. Dampen your hands, and press mixture into pan evenly. Let Cool in fridge. Invert pan, releasing bars. Cut into bars or squares. Wrap your bars with wide strips of decorative gift wrap. I used some strips from an old magazine to wrap mine(hey it’s all I had). Keep in a cool area or in your fridge & enjoy!
So, off to a new week of creative doses! I have lots of great finds in store and I promise to have a few peeks into our apartment soon, there is still a lot of loose ends to pull together. Ok, happy creating everybody!
