I'm so glad I did! It's basically a recipe for homemade granola bars, something I've tried to make a couple of times before. I've never really found a recipe that's just right before, but I really like this one. This will be a great snack to have on hand for our post-holiday withdrawal - sweet, but grainy and nutty too. And it was indeed, very easy.
You lightly toast 2 cups of rolled oats and 1 cup of nuts. She suggests sliced almonds, pepitas and sunflower seeds - I used sliced almonds and roughly chopped macadamia nuts and hazelnuts, because that's what I had on hand. Mix in dried fruit (1 cup) and coconut, and a bit of salt. Here's the dry mixture:
Next, you boil together a bit of butter and some brown rice syrup (the secret ingredient to make the bars hold together!), and then pour it over the dry mixture. Press that into a parchment lined pan, and then bake. It has to cool completely before cutting. I will definitely try this one again - planning to experiment with different combinations of fruits and nuts. It looks like some of the other bakers in the group have tried chocolate - sounds like a bit of a trick to figure out how to get the chocolate chips or chunks in there and not melt them with the hot syrup. I'll just have to experiment....
Hi Kathleen, I used chocolate chips and just added them with the dried fruit and they turned out great. There are so many options for these bars it's great!
ReplyDeleteNot that chocolate all over is a bad thing.... :-)
ReplyDeleteSo good to have an month of easy recipes to ease into the new year. :-)
Funny, I planned on skipping this one, and at the last moment thought it would be a learning experience! We loved them! Yours look great!
ReplyDeleteWasn't it great that you could just use whatever you had on hand to make these? I'm glad you gave them a try - they look and sound delicious.
ReplyDeleteI was happy I made this one as well! So good. You are in good company each time wondering if I will make that one or not. Usually I do and am always happy I did. Your bars look lovely.
ReplyDeleteYour bars looks great! I like how you cut them into smaller servings -- better for the post-holiday waistline!
ReplyDeleteThese were so easy to prepare and so delicious. A winner all around.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great recipe to test with. So easy and it seems like pretty much every combination has turned out delicious.
ReplyDeleteYour version sounds good. Glad you gave it a try and enjoyed them. I was happy to make these after the holidays, rather than something more decadent.
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