3.21.2014

granola bars


There are a trillion recipes online and another trillion on the shelves of the supermarket.  This prep is barely mine, I tweaked @CookingLight's cranberry pistachio granola bar.  Their's had great ingredients but fell apart when cooled and cut,  really crumbly. So here's my modifiication.

What separates this bar from others?
1. It doesn't taste like most shitty bars of sweetened rolled oats.
2. The raw quinoa adds a crunchy textural component.
3. They hold together in a bar, but aren't too firm.
4. The pistachios are pretty awesome, don't use a substitute for them.
5. Using the fresh ground peanuts as peanut butter, this is pretty unprocessed, but doesn't taste like a raw bar.

Dry ingredients:
rolled oats 100 g (1C)
quinoa 140 g (3/4 C)
raisins 100 g
pistachios, salted roasted 80 g (1/2 C)
unsweetened coconut 30 g (1/3 C)
flax seed 25 g (2 T)

Gloppy ingredients:
peanut butter, ground in store 150 g
honey 150 g
nutella 20 g

Warm up the gloppy ingredients in a sauce pan until pretty hot and add to dry ingredients.  Mix.  Add to parchment lined 11" x 7"  pan, press lightly to fill pan, bake at 350F for 25 minutes.  Let cool at least an hour in the pan.  Remove from pan, cut into bars slowly with a serrated edge knife - they are still kind of soft, so go slow.  Let the bars sit out on the counter - away from dogs - about a day, they'll firm up.