need a granola bar recipe

My kids like Quaker chewy granola bars. I'm not wild about them. Yes, they're convenient, and I get them the 25% less sugar kind, but I'd rather just make my own. I'm not a big fan of individually packaged items, and I'd feel better about giving them the more straightforward ingredients and not the processed who-knows-what.

I've been searching for recipes on the internet and have tried a few, but I'm not very good at reading a recipe and predicting what the outcome will be like. I'm a little worn out of experimenting, as my results thus far have been disappointing (often too crunchy/crumbly).

My only restriction is that I don't want to depend on peanut butter for the base (my pediatrician advises against it for my little guy until he's older). I want to be flexible with chocolate chips, dried cranberries, almonds, etc. A nice balance between tasty and healthy would be desirable, but we needn't go overboard--I'm not trying to sneak a bunch of nutrition into these, just have a snack that doesn't make me feel like I'm giving junk food to toddlers. Thanks!

Alton Brown did an entire episode about food bars; I haven't tried any myself, though. I have to say, looking at the ingredients on the boxes, the bars don't strike me as being that far off of an oatmeal cookie with nuts and dried fruit. Didn't Evil Ronnie just post a recipe somewhere?

Mhays wrote:Didn't Evil Ronnie just post a recipe somewhere?

Yes, he did

Best,
Michael

I have a good receipe for a no-bake granola bar that includes about 1/2 c of peanut butter, but you could substitute cashew or almond butter, if that's not off limits. I think it's a copyrighted recipe, so I'll PM it to you.

I use this recipe. It's kind of rice krispy in chewiness, but there's so much other stuff in there that it's not too sweet or desserty at all. A small square will do you. And it's infinitely adjustable. You can use other nut butters or even omit it.

Energy bars

2 cups raisins
2 cups oatmeal
2 1/2 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup peanuts
1 cup dried cranberries or other dried fruit
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 (10 1/2 ounce) bag marshmallows

# Preheat oven to 350°.
# Toast oatmeal on large baking sheet 13 x 9 pan or 15 x 10 jellyroll pan for 10 minutes.
# Add raisins and Rice Krispies and toast another 5 minutes.
# Add peanuts and dried fruit and set aside.
# In a large pan, melt butter, peanut butter and marshmallows over low heat.
# When smooth and combined, add oatmeal mixture.
# Stir to coat.
# Press firmly into 9x13 pan.
# Cool and cut into 20 bars.

I just made the Alton Brown granola "bars" last week. I use quotes because the recipe, while tasty, never bound together into bars, and merely remained loose-but-highly-chunky sweet granola. As a first try, this probably indicates a user error rather than a faulty recipe, but it's worth noting.

Holly,

Haveyou tried the Kashi TLC granola bars? They have slightly better ingredients and are very cheap if you get them from Costco. I particularly like the cranberry/a,mond and the honey/flax ones. (My 3yo does as well)

I gave granola-making a go last night, starting out with a free-form half-batch based on Mark Bittman's recipe from HTCE: three cups of rolled oats, a cup of slivered almonds, half a cup of sunflower seeds, a sprinkle of cinnamon, dash of salt, two tablespoons of brown sugar, and roughly half a cup of honey. I spread it out on a jellyroll pan and baked at 300 for 15 or so minutes, trying not to stir it very often, so as to promote clustering. After it cooled a bit, I added some dried cranberries, some raisins, and some flaxseed. It got the thumbs-up from the main granola eater in the house, who mostly adds it to yogurt.

Then, I got the idea that I should take half of THAT and try to make granola bars; maybe I should have quit while I was ahead. Following another Bittman recipe, I dissolved half a cup of brown sugar in a cup of honey and maple syrup, which I poured over the granola pressed in a square baking dish and let cool overnight. I sliced myself a square of it for lunch today, which I just ate.

It tasted okay, but it fell short in two important ways:

- After sitting at room temperature for an hour or so, it had softened enough so that it didn't hold its shape and was dripping honey all over the place. I thought the dissolved brown sugar would have re-crystalized enough to maintain integrity at 70 degrees, but I guess not.

- It was really too sweet. I was pretty sure that this would happen, boiling all that sugar, but I was hoping that the end result would be a little more palatable. Although "better" and more cost-efficient than the store-bought bars, it was way sweeter, which kind of defeats one of the purposes of making this myself.

So, I'm looking for help coming up with a stickier binder that's not going to make things too much sweeter. Would egg whites work? I don't really care how chewy or hard they are (I like the Kashi kind as well as the Nature Valley kind). Oh, and I don't like marshmallows. For some reason, they really kind of gross me out.

I make Grape-Nut bars. They're quick, easy, and you can add whatever you like to them (i.e. coconut, raisins, dried cherries, chocolate chips, nuts, etc.) Use almond or soy nut butter if peanut butter is a problem.

Grape-Nut Bars
1 C. light corn syrup
1/4 C. sugar
1 C. natural peanut butter (no sugar added)
3 C. Grape Nuts
1 C. rolled oats
1 C. shredded coconut
1/2 C. sesame seeds or other nuts
3/4 C. raisins or other dried fruit
3/4 C. chocolate chips

Microwave corn syrup, sugar and peanut butter together 2-3 minutes or until mixture boils. Mix with remaining ingredients. Press evenly into a greased 13-x9-inch pan. Let cool and cut into bars.

I make my own granola bars for breakfast and snacks all the time - they're a favorite around here, and infinitely variable. I took two batches with us on a camping trip with several other couples, and now anytime friends come to our house, they sheepishly ask if they can have a granola bar - I love it! I blogged about my bars awhile ago:

http://thewholekitchen.blogspot.com/200 ... -bars.html

Jenn-

Would you mind posting the recipe here?

Thanks.