I have been looking for awhile for a really good granola bar recipe - we like it crunchy! Well, I finally found - and tried - one that I really like. It is from Alton Brown (I just LOVE to watch him on Good Eats) and does not use corn syrup - yeah! Try it and see if you like it, too!
8 ounces old-fashioned rolled oats, approximately 2 cups
1 1/2 ounces raw sunflower seeds, approximately 1/2 cup
3 ounces sliced almonds, approximately 1 cup
1 1/2 ounces wheat germ, approximately 1/2 cup
6 ounces honey, approximately 1/2 cup
1 3/4 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1/4 cup packed (I used Sucanat)
1-ounce unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 1/2 ounces chopped dried fruit, any combination of apricots, cherries or blueberries
Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, and wheat germ onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved.
Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.
By the way, I have learned SO much about food and cooking from watch Alton Brown on Good Eats, so if you get a chance, check it out on the Food Network!
5 comments:
Great snack recommendation. Thanks for participating in MIFS.
Oooohhh.. awesome! I've printed the recipe and want to try this soon! I love crunchy granola bars too! Your recipe looks perfect for me -- I can get all the ingredients.
Can't wait to try!!!!! I have read one of his cookbook (science books) from the library and loved it. They looked wonderful!
Alton Brown is so funny! My husband even likes listening to him..LOL..
I think I'll have to give this recipe a try!
God bless,
Sallie
NOTE: If you don't like a strong taste of honey, you'll defintiely want to use less honey.
I made a batch from this recipe about a month ago, minus the wheat germ since I didn't have any and plus some trail mix and puffed rice. They were an ok consistancy, but held a thick honey flavor and were too sweet for my liking. However, they were a much nicer texture than my last experience with a granola recipe which had the glue-like squishiness of cold oatmeal (it used eggs and I did not appeciate the fluffy texture).
This time I used only a few tablespoons of honey, butter & olive oil, the brown sugar, soy protein powder, and some canola oil (I got this idea from looking at the ingredients of my favorite granola bar) to create just enough liquid volume to coat the oat mixture.
My variation included shredded coconut, chopped walnuts, milled flaxseed, some trailmix, and a packet of cranberry & flax instant oatmeal. Mostly I looked around the kitchen for healthy things that are not too sweet.
They turned out really well! I compared their crunchiness to Nature Valley granola bars - less honey and liquid mix = crunchier granola.
Next time I'll try using some brown rice syrup - it's popular in granola bars and is said to help the flavor. An alternative oil to canola (almond, soy, coconut, etc) would be nice. I'd also like to try dried fruit and a batch with peanut butter again (I tried some each in halves of the first batch, but the honey drowned out the flavors).
I hope this is helpful to someone.
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