Monday, July 16, 2012

Granola Bars: First Attempt


Mike & I are going on vacation over Labor Day weekend, and we're going to try to save as much money as we can while continuing down the road to improving our health.  So when I found this recipe for granola bars on Pinterest, it seemed too easy not to try! We could eat these for breakfast while on vacation. :^)

I tweaked the recipe a bit, but this is what I tried:

Ingredients:
2 2/3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup honey
2/3 cup peanut butter (creamy is easier to mix)
1 cup flour
2 cups of whatever mix-in's you like (below is what I used)

1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1 tube mini m&m's (about 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup (2 boxes) raisins

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) On a sprayed baking sheet, toss together the oats and coconut and pop them in the oven to toast for about 10 mins, just until them become really fragrant. This will just enhance their flavor. (If you're not using coconut, still do this with just the oats.)

3) In a large bowl, microwave the honey for 30 secs. This will make it much easier for mixing.

4) Add the peanut butter to the honey and mix well.

5) Remove the oat mixture from the oven and add to the honey mixture. Also add the flour and all your mix-in's. Mix until you think your hand is going to fall off, haha. If your mixture is not incorporating well, add a tbsp of water at a time until it comes together. I used about 2 tbsp. Keep in mind, this mixture is meant to be very thick, but should stick together well.

*Note: I sprayed my hand lightly with Pam and dug in to make SURE it was mixed well.*

6) Line a baking sheet with foil and cooking spray, or you can just use parchment paper. Then press the mixture into the pan, so it's about 1/2 inch thick. Use the sides of the pan and really press it in there.

7) Bake for 20 mins. Let them sit about 10 mins before cutting into bars, then wrap in foil. These will keep for about a week in a food container, or you can freeze them. That's what I did with the majority of them.  (recipe made 21 bars)

Nutrional info for each bar:
Calories - 257
Protein - 4
Carbs - 43

Really blurry, but you get the idea...

Now.............these taste good and everything, but to me, they're almost TOO sweet, and they're very dense. So the next time I make them, I'll make the following changes:

~instead of 1 c honey, I'll use 1/4 c honey and 3/4 c no sugar added applesauce
~eliminate the flour
~add a cup of rice krispies (to make them lighter)

With those changes, the nutrional info will be:
Calories - 178
Protein - 3
Carbs - 21

I like those numbers a lot better. I'll be making these again with the changes sometime in the next month, and I'll let you guys know how they turn out! Enjoy!!!

Breakfast this morning - a yummy granola bar paired with hard boiled egg whites and light cranberry juice - yummm!

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