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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Granola bars win, sugar cookies fail

IMG_0433LR-2

Tweaked our granola bar recipe and tried again (Ro was in a cooking kind of a mood, Ree was off somewhere reading one of her Rainbow Magic books from the library) and this time it worked! These little babies were great. Here’s the recipe:

Ro’s Successful Granola Bars

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease an 8” or 9” square pan.

2. Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl:

  • 2 cups instant oats
  • 1 cup roughly chopped dried fruit (for these bars we cleaned out the cupboard and used a combo of dried apricots, raisins, and dried blueberries)
  • 1 cup roughly chopped unsalted almonds
  • 1/2 cup wheat germ (it’s located next to the oatmeal in the cereal aisle)
  • 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder
  • 3/4 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup (Put this in a little bit at a time, you might not need it all to make everything gloopy. We used it all this time.)
  • 4 Tablespoons melted butter
  • 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup mini marshmallows

3. Transfer mixture to your greased pan and use a flat spatula to press the mixture down really hard (you’ll see it compress).

4. Bake for 25 minutes until light golden brown on top, then remove from oven and press down hard with your spatula (you’ll see them compress again).

5. Cool completely (probably for a few hours) before cutting into bars. Then wrap the bars in saran wrap store in the fridge.

Yum!

DSC_8126LROh, and about the fail: I got these awesome Chinese character candy molds off the internet and was going to make little sugar cookies with them for the favor bags at the girls’ upcoming party. They looked GREAT before the oven. I was using a recipe called “No-Fail Sugar Cookies” that wasn’t supposed to spread or rise AT ALL when baked. And, of course, they spread during baking and the Chinese characters got all blobby and unrecognizable. Fail! I’m thinking we’ll be using the molds with candy melts to make colored chocolate pops for the favor bags instead...

DSC_8113LRGuess I’d better get to cleaning up that kitchen. And figuring out what to do with the dozens and dozens of smallish blob-covered sugar cookies. If anyone wants any, come on over!

12 comments:

  1. Uhhh... YUM!

    Granola bars... git in mah belleh!!!

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  2. Hey there - did you try putting your dough in the fridge before putting them in the oven. I think they aren't supposed to spread if they are cold before going into the oven. Good luck! Can't wait to see all the party festivities.

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  3. I think we used that recipe at one point. Yes, they spread. And tasted awful.

    Monica
    kaijinsbigsis.blogspot.com

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  4. Mmm...your granola bars sound delish!

    And yes, pour the milk, I'll be over for sugar cookies and a wonderful visit in ummm....5 hours! Love you!

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  5. Bummer about the sugar cookies. Maybe you can use the molds to make crayons as a party favor? Could be cool :)

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  6. You might want to try those molds with a shortbread recipe instead of sugar cookie. No egg or leavening might help! The granola bar recipe looks like a "must try"! Thanks!

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  7. Awesome!

    You do such great things. Too bad I don't live closer to eat some of those sugar cookies that didn't work out. I would make that sacrifice.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous9/28/2011

    Those bars look awesome! The recipe looks good, but I wonder what would happen if you left out the dry milk powder? I wonder how important it is?

    Stace

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  9. Thanks for sharing the granola recipe! I can't wait to try it with the girls. If you want Greg's Great Grandmother's sugar cookie recipe, send me a note. I've made them many times and they freeze beautifully after icing. I've made hearts and wedding bells and flowers and letters...you name it. They never blob.

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  10. Anonymous9/28/2011

    Suggestion:

    Put orange frosting on the sugar cookies and make faces with mini chocolate chips. If cookies are large enough, you could put a "pop" stick in , dip in orange- colored melted white chocolate, and add faces using candies or black frosting in a tube

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  11. We made the granola bars today- a few changes to it for our house, but they smell great. We are waiting for them cool down so I can cut them.

    Thanks for sharing.
    Deb

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  12. I wanted to give you an update on the granola bars at our house. Yesterday, after making them, I thought they would not go over well with the Bug, but today after letting them set over night in the frig, Bug loves them. They are definitely better after a night in the frig.
    Thanks for the reciepe.

    Love and hugs,
    Deb and Bug

    ReplyDelete