Saturday, August 24, 2013

Cranberry-maple granola bars

One of things I really miss is granola bars. There are tons of cereals bars in French stores but none of them quite add up to the nature valley green bars I loved so much as a kid. They always seem too crumbly or not chewy enough or too...artificial (all white sugar and corn syrup...). i wanted something filling and healthy that we could all eat.

So I went on a quest to make my own granola bars. I looked on the Internet using the key words: oatmeal, cranberry and maple syrup. In the end, i didint find anything perefct so I combined two recipes to make my own granola bars that have turned my non breakfast eating husband into a Breakfast eater. As with the original recipe, These bars are very versatile and can be easily adapted to what you have on hand. If you are a peanut butter fan, you can increase the quantity to get moister  bars.  My kids didn't like the peanut butter...not very American of them! 


No-bake oatmeal-maple granola bars (adapted from this recipe) for the lazy mom who wants as few steps as possible in her homemade food. 

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups rolled oats (230 g)
1/2 cup (80 g) almond powder(or chopped almond but who has the patience to do that? )
1/3 cup (115 ml) maple syrup
1/4 cup (56g) butter
1/4 cup (50g) sucre vergeoise ( or light brown sugar or cassonade or raw sugar or whatever you have)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp big sea salt
1/2 cup (60g) dried cranberries or other dried fruit
1/4 cup  (65g) chocolate chips or chunks
1 tablespoon peanut butter or almond butter
A handful of Rice Krispies or crumbled corn flakes

How
melt the butter, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla and salt in a pan on medium low heat. Stir it until everything's dissolved and you have a kind of caramel.

In the meantime, put the oats, coconut, and almond powder in a roasting pan and toast it for a few minutes, until its not burnt. About 10 minutes in a 350 f (175c) oven. Put it in a big bowl.

Pour the melted butter mixture over the oats and stir well, add the cranberries And chocolate.
Pour into an aluminum foil lined pan. Pat the mixture down as much as you can, using a flat spatula or your hands (my preferred method). 

Put in the fridge overnight. To cut, I prefer Not to remove it from the pan. Cut n squares and keep in an air tight container. You'll probably have to adjust the quantity of dry to wet ingredients depending n the weather. And if the bars crumble, just put it in a bowl and pour milk on it. It makes delicious crunchy musli. 

For chewier bars, use corn syrup or golden syrup instead of brown sugar 

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