Delicious Homemade Gooey Granola Bars!
Our family has been trying to reduce our sugar and salt intake, and also buy fewer processed foods. I’d like to say that this saves us money, but that hasn’t been the case…so far. However, in the long run, if our medical bills in the future remain low, then we will have saved money and will have preserved our health instead of just buying the cheapest, easiest "foods" for our meals and snacks. If you come to my home and browse through my cupboards, you’ll still see that we are in this transition process. But…there are far fewer boxed/packaged/jarred/canned goods in my cupboard!
I used to think that if we made most things homemade, they were healthier for us, right? Well, in some cases that is true, but we have decided to eliminate shortening from our diet altogether, and we are using natural versions of sweeteners now – organic maple syrup, evaporated cane juice, and raw honey.
We’re also trying to use more whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour. I’ve been grinding wheat berries in a $30 Cuisinart coffee burr mill to make flour because I can’t really afford to buy a $400+ grain mill right now. It doesn’t grind as finely as purchased flour, but it is working for us so far.
We’re using coconut oil, red palm oil, and butter for our fats. While it does mean that we need to adapt or throw out some of our old recipes, it also means we get to try some new recipes as well!
My husband enjoys having snacks to take in his lunch box to work. He typically works a 10+ hour day, so just a little main dish (usually leftovers) or a sandwich won’t last him that long. He’d come home as hungry as a bear! I know that I won’t be perfect in making all of our snacks at home, but we are really going to give this a try, instead of having a pantry full of boxes and packages of "junk" like purchased granola bars, tortilla chips (we’re going to make our own this week!), pudding paks, fig bars (my husband loves those), etc. We’ll try putting a homemade snack/treat in his lunch along with a mozzarella stick, nuts, etc.
Here’s the recipe for the granola bars that I made this afternoon. Brittany thinks they need a little bit of chocolate (she’s never been much of a fruit dessert type of person), but I think they are super delicious!
What I really like about this recipe is that I didn’t need to make homemade granola first, or buy granola from the store. This is a really quick and easy recipe. Maybe next time, I’ll add a FEW chopped up chocolate chips just for Brittany!
Delicious Homemade Gooey Granola Bars!
2 and 1/4 cups old fashioned oats (not quick cooking oats)
3/4 cup sesame seeds
1 cup chopped nuts (almonds, cashews, pecans, unsalted roasted peanuts, walnuts, etc.)
1 tsp. sea salt (I’m going to reduce this to 1/2 tsp. next time)
1/2 cup honey (I prefer raw, unfiltered honey but any honey would work)
5 Tbsp. coconut oil (it’s expensive, but this recipe doesn’t use all that much; I buy it monthly from a wholesale store – I prefer raw, virgin, unprocessed coconut oil)
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla (I actually forgot the vanilla this time, and it was STILL delicious!)
1 cup dried chopped fruit (cranberries, raisins, chopped figs, dates, cherries, pineapple – I used non-sulfite naturally dried organic cranberries)
Directions:
1. In a 9×12" baking pan, combine the oats, sesame seeds, nuts, and salt. Toast in the oven at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until light golden. ***Stir every 4 minutes or so to prevent burning.
2. While waiting for the oats, nuts, and seeds to toast, combine honey and coconut oil in a saucepan and heat until coconut oil has melted and they are well combined, stirring frequently.
3. Stir the dried fruit into the honey-coconut oil mixture and allow the fruit to soak up some of the sweet sauce.
4. Remove the oats, seeds, and nuts from the oven when they are golden brown.
5. Take sweet sauce away from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour fruit/sauce directly over the toasted mixture. Stir until well combined. Press mixture into the pan with the back of a spoon.
6. When cool, cut into bars, cool in refrigerator, and enjoy! These granola bars do better if stored in the refrigerator, covered
I used to think that if we made most things homemade, they were healthier for us, right? Well, in some cases that is true, but we have decided to eliminate shortening from our diet altogether, and we are using natural versions of sweeteners now – organic maple syrup, evaporated cane juice, and raw honey.
We’re also trying to use more whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour. I’ve been grinding wheat berries in a $30 Cuisinart coffee burr mill to make flour because I can’t really afford to buy a $400+ grain mill right now. It doesn’t grind as finely as purchased flour, but it is working for us so far.
We’re using coconut oil, red palm oil, and butter for our fats. While it does mean that we need to adapt or throw out some of our old recipes, it also means we get to try some new recipes as well!
My husband enjoys having snacks to take in his lunch box to work. He typically works a 10+ hour day, so just a little main dish (usually leftovers) or a sandwich won’t last him that long. He’d come home as hungry as a bear! I know that I won’t be perfect in making all of our snacks at home, but we are really going to give this a try, instead of having a pantry full of boxes and packages of "junk" like purchased granola bars, tortilla chips (we’re going to make our own this week!), pudding paks, fig bars (my husband loves those), etc. We’ll try putting a homemade snack/treat in his lunch along with a mozzarella stick, nuts, etc.
Here’s the recipe for the granola bars that I made this afternoon. Brittany thinks they need a little bit of chocolate (she’s never been much of a fruit dessert type of person), but I think they are super delicious!
What I really like about this recipe is that I didn’t need to make homemade granola first, or buy granola from the store. This is a really quick and easy recipe. Maybe next time, I’ll add a FEW chopped up chocolate chips just for Brittany!
Delicious Homemade Gooey Granola Bars!
2 and 1/4 cups old fashioned oats (not quick cooking oats)
3/4 cup sesame seeds
1 cup chopped nuts (almonds, cashews, pecans, unsalted roasted peanuts, walnuts, etc.)
1 tsp. sea salt (I’m going to reduce this to 1/2 tsp. next time)
1/2 cup honey (I prefer raw, unfiltered honey but any honey would work)
5 Tbsp. coconut oil (it’s expensive, but this recipe doesn’t use all that much; I buy it monthly from a wholesale store – I prefer raw, virgin, unprocessed coconut oil)
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla (I actually forgot the vanilla this time, and it was STILL delicious!)
1 cup dried chopped fruit (cranberries, raisins, chopped figs, dates, cherries, pineapple – I used non-sulfite naturally dried organic cranberries)
Directions:
1. In a 9×12" baking pan, combine the oats, sesame seeds, nuts, and salt. Toast in the oven at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until light golden. ***Stir every 4 minutes or so to prevent burning.
2. While waiting for the oats, nuts, and seeds to toast, combine honey and coconut oil in a saucepan and heat until coconut oil has melted and they are well combined, stirring frequently.
3. Stir the dried fruit into the honey-coconut oil mixture and allow the fruit to soak up some of the sweet sauce.
4. Remove the oats, seeds, and nuts from the oven when they are golden brown.
5. Take sweet sauce away from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour fruit/sauce directly over the toasted mixture. Stir until well combined. Press mixture into the pan with the back of a spoon.
6. When cool, cut into bars, cool in refrigerator, and enjoy! These granola bars do better if stored in the refrigerator, covered
Maple Leaf Cookies - YUMMMM!
We have a new family favorite at our home….Maple Leaf Cookies!
These made such a moist, faintly sweet cookie that was so delicious, and the cookies seemed to improve with age, instead of becoming dry and stale after a day or two like most homemade cookies. You will need to use real Grade B maple syrup for these cookies, though, because if you choose to use maple flavoring (1 tsp. or so), the maple flavor will hardly be evident. I recommend sticking with the real maple syrup!
We tried this recipe again recently with regular maple syrup from the store, and they had very little maple syrup flavor. Huh? What’s with that? Well, I went back and looked at the new bottle of maple syrup, and it was Grade A. Normally, with the way that foods are graded, you’d think this would be better than Grade B, but this isn’t the case. For true, richer maple syrup flavor in these cookies, please make certain that your maple syrup is Grade B!
If the thought of cutting out cookies with a cookie cutter seems too time consuming for you, you may also roll out the dough and cut it into squares or rectangles and then bake the cookies without using cookie cutters.
Here’s the recipe:
Maple Leaf Cut-Out Cookies
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 eggs
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
Measure all ingredients into a large bowl. If using large stand mixer, beat ingredients on low speed until well combined, or beat by hand. Shape dough into ball; wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough 1 hour or until easy to handle.
Set oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 large cookie pans, or lightly spray pans with cooking spray and then place parchment paper onto pans.
On a lightly floured surface, roll small portions of the dough out at a time to about 1/4" thickness. With a cookie cutter (if desired), cut dough out and place cookies one inch apart on greased or parchment-lined cookie pans. Or, cut dough into squares or rectangles and place onto pan to bake.
Bake cookies for 5 minutes; switch and rotate pans and bake an additional 5 minutes or until golden. Carefully remove cookies to wire racks to cool. Repeat until all dough is used, greasing cookie sheet each time (if not using parchment paper).
Store cookies in a tightly covered container.
These made such a moist, faintly sweet cookie that was so delicious, and the cookies seemed to improve with age, instead of becoming dry and stale after a day or two like most homemade cookies. You will need to use real Grade B maple syrup for these cookies, though, because if you choose to use maple flavoring (1 tsp. or so), the maple flavor will hardly be evident. I recommend sticking with the real maple syrup!
We tried this recipe again recently with regular maple syrup from the store, and they had very little maple syrup flavor. Huh? What’s with that? Well, I went back and looked at the new bottle of maple syrup, and it was Grade A. Normally, with the way that foods are graded, you’d think this would be better than Grade B, but this isn’t the case. For true, richer maple syrup flavor in these cookies, please make certain that your maple syrup is Grade B!
If the thought of cutting out cookies with a cookie cutter seems too time consuming for you, you may also roll out the dough and cut it into squares or rectangles and then bake the cookies without using cookie cutters.
Here’s the recipe:
Maple Leaf Cut-Out Cookies
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 eggs
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
Measure all ingredients into a large bowl. If using large stand mixer, beat ingredients on low speed until well combined, or beat by hand. Shape dough into ball; wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough 1 hour or until easy to handle.
Set oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 large cookie pans, or lightly spray pans with cooking spray and then place parchment paper onto pans.
On a lightly floured surface, roll small portions of the dough out at a time to about 1/4" thickness. With a cookie cutter (if desired), cut dough out and place cookies one inch apart on greased or parchment-lined cookie pans. Or, cut dough into squares or rectangles and place onto pan to bake.
Bake cookies for 5 minutes; switch and rotate pans and bake an additional 5 minutes or until golden. Carefully remove cookies to wire racks to cool. Repeat until all dough is used, greasing cookie sheet each time (if not using parchment paper).
Store cookies in a tightly covered container.
