Guess who's not watching the State of the Union address? That's right, me. I figured I'd learn about as much tending to the state of this blog. I'll catch the highlights during my interminable commute tomorrow morning.
I've been making these for awhile but it's hard to figure out the cost. That's why I resisted posting this for so long. The recipe is so elastic--lots of options to make these how you want them.
These are Smitten Kitchen granola bars. The original recipe is here, although it is an adaptation of a King Arthur Flour recipe. I've made some other granola bars before, but these are better, easier and have the potential to be cheaper. Some of the ingredients in the Smitten Kitchen recipe are more specific if you want to check that out. I loosened it up.
The Best Granola Bars
1 2/3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup sugar or less
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
spices: any combination of the pumpkin pie spice family. Anywhere between none and 2 teaspoons, maybe?
2-3 cups of jazziness: dried fruit, nuts, coconut, ground flax seed, wheat germ, I've even used some stale Cheerios and a chopped up Larabar. This is where it could get expensive. I generally use 1 cup dried raisins or cranberries. Once I dried apples in the oven for granola bars. I use 1 cup nuts (peanuts and something else) and coconut and somewhere close to 1/2 cup of flax seed and wheat germ.
1 teaspoon vanilla or a little more
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup liquid sweetener: honey, corn syrup, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, I even use pancake syrup.
2 tablespoons of something else sweet: more honey or syrup. I often use this grape jelly that someone made and gave me that didn't quite set up right.
1 tablespoon water
1/3 cup peanut butter or canned pumpkin puree if you want. This is optional. I've done it with both and they are both really good.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a square pan with parchment or foil (one sheet down the middle and over the sides--it shouldn't cover the whole pan. You're just using it to pull out the hunk of granola bar when it's done). Spray the paper/foil and pan with something Pam-ish.
Combine dry ingredients. Whisk together wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Whisk in the pumpkin if you're using it. Mix dry and wet (add peanut butter now if you're using it). Press into the pan. Bake 30-40 minutes.
Cool completely. You may need to chill them in the fridge for 30 minutes if they are too crumbly to cut. Lift out and cut into bars.
These usually equal out to about 20-25 cents per bar. They probably aren't a lot cheaper than buying the sale ones in the store but I'm bossy so I like to decide to have pumpkin in my granola bars if I want it. Plus they're fun to make and they taste a lot better than store bars. Also? less packaging = less trash. These are almost cookies--great substitute for the vending machine candy bar. If you're all gluten-free or think HFCS is the devil--this recipe is the way to go. Just don't include the pancake syrup.
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Breakfast: oatmeal, peanut butter & banana 21 cents
Lunch: Hamburger Helper and an orange 60 cents
Snack: turkey wrap 56 cents
Dinner: chili, corn muffin and crackers 77 cents
Total: $2.14
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