Friday, April 11, 2008

Friday Night Sweet Treat--Super Bars

Awhile ago I was given a recipe for homemade granola bars. They were okay. Over the past few weeks, I have done a couple tweaks, trial runs and tests and came up with a dah-dah-dah-DAH!...Super Bar recipe.

Great for an on-the-go snack, breakfast, a treat or quick pick-me-up, I am addicted to these bars as if they contain some kind of illicit substance. They are chewy, slightly sweet (but not nearly as sweet as commercial bars and without any funky ingredients), healthy and just plain yummy.

My favorite part? The recipe below is the framework, but as you can see, you can make it work with whatever ingredients you have on hand. I asked R the other day which batch he has liked best and he replied, "all of them!"

Super Bars
2 1/3 c old-fashioned oats
1 c whole wheat flour
2/3 c brown sugar
2 T ground flax seed (or wheat germ)
1 t ground cinnamon
3/4 t salt
2/3 c raisins (or use a mix of any dried fruit...craisins, diced dried apricot, dates)
1/4 c molasses (or honey or maple syrup)
1/2 c applesauce
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 T vanilla extract
1/2 c sliced almonds (or use walnuts, sunflower seeds, peanuts, etc)
optional mix-ins: you can substitute mini-chips, coconut, etc for some of the nuts or dried fruit

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the oats, flour, sugar, flax seed, cinnamon, salt and raisins. In a separate bowl, mix the molasses, applesauce, oil, egg, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients into the oat mixture. Mix well and then add the nuts.

On a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper, a Silpat liner or just well-greased, spread the mixture with a spatula until your mixture is in a uniform shape, kind of like this:
It is important it is uniform so the bars cook evenly. Bake for about 25-27 minutes or until the bars seem firm. Remove from the oven and cut immediately like so:
Notice there is already a bar missing...I don't think they were even cool yet.

Sweet Eats,
SPC

6 comments:

Slacker Mama said...

Those look really yummy...but 13 ingredients!?!? And some of those (like flax seed) have never even visited the Slacker house. Can't you just send some to me instead?

And now I need a Silpat.

I *am* going to break down and get myself some Whole Wheat flour this weekend. But flax seed might put me over the edge.

Sweet Pea Chef said...

SM--Ok, ok, good point...

Try replacing the flax seed with the whole wheat flour you pick up this weekend. I am sure it won't change much.

Deep in the Heart said...

Can't wait to try these. My kids go crazy for granola bars and they're so expensive and hard to find good ones. I must admit, I love them too and on work days I often don't get time for lunch, so I sneak some myself. I'll definitely try these.

BTW, did you catch the Oprah where Dr. Oz told her she had to grind her flax seed. She hadn't known and had been eating them whole for all this time. My parents didn't know either. Probably a few others out there, too.

Slacker Mama said...

I have to *grind* flax seed?!?!? How do I do that! And what aisle is the flax seed on?

I thought I ate healthy, but now I'm not so sure. Sigh.

I really do want to try these because it would be something different to send to school with the girls.

Sweet Pea Chef said...

SM--They sell pre-ground flax seed. I think it is flax seed meal. I buy our flax seed meal in the baking aisle, with the other things like corn meal, etc. But SERIOUSLY, try it without it. I made a batch with just extra flour, and it worked fine. I put the flax in there for extra nutrition (it is the only non-animal source of Omega-3 fatty acids), not to stress my mommy friends out. :)

Unknown said...

Can you tell me what the nutritional content of these are? Like calories and such? Thanks.