Until I saw this
recipe, I thought that making any type of granola was a complex process best
left to large food manufacturers. If
you’ve ever made rice krispie treats from scratch, making chewy granola bars
from this recipe is not much different.
I stumbled across
this recipe in the September 2009 issue of Yoga Journal magazine and is adapted
from Petit Appetit - Eat, Drink and Be Merry by Lisa Barnes (Penguin
Book Group, 2009).
Where these bars are
as sticky as rice krispie treats, I found the extra step of lining the baking
pan with aluminum foil whose edges hang over the side of the baking pan help in
removing the granola from the pan to a flat surface to cut into bars.
Chewy Granola Bars
Makes 16 2-inch bars
Wrap these treats in
wax paper or recycled aluminum foil when packing them to go.
Ingredients:
Non-stick cooking
spray, for pan
Aluminum foil, for
pan
1 1/3 cups rolled
oats or quick cook steel cut oats
1/2 cup raw sunflower
seeds
1 1/2 cups crispy
rice cereal
1 cup dried
cranberries
2 tablespoons candied
ginger, chopped
1/2 cup brown rice
syrup
1/4 cup turbinado
sugar or organic sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
extract
1. Line 8-inch square
baking pan with aluminum foil, letting edges of foil hang over side of
pan. Spray aluminum foil with non-stick
cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl mix
the oats, seeds, cereal, cranberries and ginger until well blended.
3. In a small
saucepan, combine rice syrup, sugar and vanilla. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly,
until the mixture comes to a boil and starts to thicken, 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Pour rice syrup
mixture over the oat mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until evenly
coated. Spoon into prepared pan and top
with a piece of waxed paper. Press the
mixture firmly and evenly into the pan.
5. Cool to room
temperature. Remove waxed paper. Using edges of aluminum foil used to line
pan, lift granola out of pan and to flat surface to cut into bars.
6. Wrap the bars
individually or place them in an airtight container and store at room
temperature.
For chocolate chip,
substitute ginger and dried canberries for 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Adapted from PetitAppetit - Eat, Drink and Be Merry by Lisa Barnes (Penguin Book Group, 2009)
and Yoga Journal (September 2009).
