Wednesday, October 7, 2009

granola bars



So much to report! California is madness, but I am (somehow) resisting the urge to eat nothing but rice bean & cheese burritos. I have been pretty busy in the kitchen, yes, but the best thing are these granola bars. They are so good I can't believe it. How many granola bars is too many? Three? Four? A whole batch? I started to just take the whole tupperware with me wherever I went, seriously. So here you go! The other thing that is awesome about granola bars is that you can make them with whatever you want and no matter how bad your allergies are (unless you're straight-up celiac, in which case you should buy special "no way in hell these are cross-contaminated" oats), if you make them yourself granola bars are a go. A cheap, portable, delicious go.

Lily's granola bars
Based on Alton Brown's recipe

4 cups oats (not instant)
1/2 cup honey (or agave, for you dirty hippies)
1/4 - 1/2 cup (brown) sugar (ditto)
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup-ish chopped dried fruit (apricots, cranberries, figs, oh my!)
1/4 cup-ish nut, soy, or sunflower seed butter

In a 350 degree oven, toast the oats on a baking sheet.

Meanwhile, in a medium-sized pot heat the sugar, salt and honey until the mixture is hot and gooey. When the oats smell toasty and are brown (15 min? Turn the oven down to 300!) add them + your fruit to the sweet stuff, and stir. It should be almost but not quite enough to get the whole mass to unite.

Glop in some nut/sunflower seed butter and stir.

Now line a loaf pan or cake pan with aluminum foil and press the oaty goodness in. When you think you've pressed enough, press more. Use another pan for even pressure, if you have one.

Now bake for 25 minutes. After you take them out, press some more! Now let the brick cool. Once it's cool you can break it into chunks and store in your cupboard (a week, if they make it) or the fridge (longer, but also less chewy) or the freezer (for self control).

Get creative! Do you have awesome additions? A kick-ass granola recipe? Let me know.

2 comments:

Elise said...

Oh hi, Lily! I was just thinking about you because the nice folk at Umami sent me a hello email. Nick and I used to make granola alllll the time, then stopped when it got too hot to turn the oven on, but the plan is to start again very soon! This stuff is dangerously good.


Dry stuff, mixed in a bowl:

* A lot of oats. Like, 6 cups.
* 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
* 1/8 cup wheat germ
* 2 or 3 or 4 tsp cinnamon... depends on your mood
* 1/8 tsp nutmeg
* Pinch of cloves. Or enough to get your entire apartment to smell like cloves.
* Some salt.

Wet stuff, mixed in another bowl:

* 1/2 or 2/3 cup fruit juice (apple, orange, whatever)
* 1/4 or 1/3 cup maple syrup or honey
* A teaspoon or two of vegetable oil

Mix wet and dry. Add a couple of cups of nuts.

Spread on baking sheets. Oven at 375. Done in two rounds of 15 minutes. It'll look crispy, but make sure it's not burned. Throw in dried fruit. Pack away in old yogurt containers.

Hadorei said...

Gonna have to try that sometime!