Granola Bars

Like (almost) everything else, this was an experiment. It was partially successful.

Like experiments, there were multiple conditions--two different methods of trying to make the granola bars stick together. One worked better than the other, but neither worked well. The mix was: 2 c rolled oats, 1/3 c wheat germ, 1/3 c wheat bran, 2 tbsp sunflower seeds, 2 tbsp sliced almonds, 3 tbsp brown sugar, 1.5 tbsp ground flaxseed, 2 tbsp melted butter, 1 tsp vanilla. A trick I learned from the KAF blog is to everything in a different place as a visual check of what you've added so you don't forget anything.

I mixed all this good stuff up and then split the batch in half. One half got a beaten egg white, the other 3 tbsp mashed banana. (This was based on a lack of critical thinking, as usual: I somehow managed to reason that since egg holds stuff together and is also something that adds moisture, something else that holds moisture should also hold things together. Don't ask.) Each half got pressed into a loaf pan. (Below, I think the egg version was the full one.)

After 25? minutes at 350 and 7 minutes to cool in the pan, I turned each out on the cutting board. The egg pan stuck together better than the banana pan, but neither stuck particularly well. I also realized that sunflower seeds don't really belong in granola bars. It's too bad but I've become quite a fan of the processed "food", sugar, oats, and chocolate chip version.

So, who has a granola bar recipe to share that doesn't have loads of sugar for holding everything together?

Because It Wasn't Hot Enough

The plan was to make bread on the weekends. Oops.

This time, having conferred with a professional bread baking person, things worked much better. I used less water, and therefore less flour, slightly less yeast, and baked the bread at 400 instead of 350. I also kneaded it less, because 20 minutes, besides being REALLY hard sweaty work, might have been overdoing it. Most exciting, I finally got loaf pans! The loaf wasn't as *big* as I wanted, but I can attribute this to the size of the recipe since it was the perfect consistency.

And because of the loaf pans (I think having direct metal contact makes a difference) and the increased temperature, it was darker than before. So pretty!

And then, since the apartment wasn't hot enough, I decided the time had come to make granola! (Since I sillyily mistook granola for granola bars, that'll be happening soon too. Stay tuned!) Here's the mountain of granola; it reminds me of Vesuvius, in, maybe, 78 A.D.

Here's the recipe. As with most things, it's my rendition of a recipe I found somewhere among teh interwebs.

in bowl:
2 c rolled oats
1/2 c wheat bran (actually a bit more)
1/2 c wheat germ (actually a bit less)
1/3 c sunflower seeds (this was too much!)
1/3 c sliced almonds
3/4 tsp cinnamon (could be more)
1/2 tsp salt (probably unnecessary)

in pan:
3 tsp brown sugar
3 tsp water
2 tbsp butter
1/4 c honey

boil syrup, pour over dry stuff
spread in greased jelly roll pan and bake at 350 for 25? minutes

In the future, I'm going to try using a combination of applesauce and/or mashed banana instead of the oil.

I eat it as cereal, but you can also mix it with cottage cheese, yogurt, or make parfait!

Also pretty!