Sunday 22 February 2015

Date Walnut Granola Bars

 I'm a little behind with my blogging these days. Working 10 hour days leaves little time for writing and even less for baking, but fear not, I've managed to squeeze in a little time in the kitchen over the past few weeks! Being constantly on the go has left me in need of quick snacks that travel easily and not being a fan of things like prepackaged bars I had been hoping to make some healthy granola bars myself. I'd been on the hunt for awhile looking for one that called for ingredients I already had (we're on a budget here!) that wasn't just some sad combination of peanut butter and oats mushed together and refrigerated. In swoops Mama Bear with a recipe from her Looneyspoons Collection cookbook!
 

This recipe calls for oats, whole wheat flour, honey, pumpkin and just a smidge of butter among other things. I adapted the recommended fruits and nuts to suit my tastes and came up with two variations: Date-Walnut, and Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond. Personally, I have to say I prefer the Date-Walnut as the dark chocolate seems to overwhelm the subtle cinnamon flavour, but both are delicious and have received the Non Healthy Eater Seal of Deliciousness from my coworkers.


DATE WALNUT GRANOLA BARS
(For chocolate cherry simply sub 1/2 cup each of mini chocolate chips, chopped almonds and dried cherries for dates and walnuts)

Dry ingredients: date-walnut in the front.
½ cups quick-cooking oats (not instant)
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
¾ cup chopped walnuts
¾ cup chopped dates
 cup + 2 tbsp whole wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
¾ cup canned pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling!!)
½ cup liquid honey
¼ cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla 

Preheat your oven to 350°F (180ºC). Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, letting the paper overhang on two opposite sides. 


Right out of the oven!
Combine the first 9 ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. In a medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin, honey, butter and vanilla and pour over dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon mix thoroughly until dry ingredients are coated with pumpkin mixture. Make sure there aren’t any dry oats in the bottom of the bowl! 

Pour the wet granola mixture into the prepared pan and spread it evenly to the edges. Using your hand, press down firmly on the granola so that it’s tightly packed in the pan.
Bake on the middle rack of your oven for about 25 minutes, until top turns a light golden brown and feels dry to touch. Remove and cool completely on a wire rack. Lift cooled slab of granola from pan by holding on to parchment paper and transfer to a cutting board. Using a large, sharp knife, cut the granola into 16 bars, about 1½ x 4 inches each.
Original recipe can be found here. 


Happy Snacking! 
-Holly            
                                                                             

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