Granola on the Go Part II: Tropical!

The first time I made granola bars, Michelle and I did some genius brainstorming around other possible granola concoctions. I mean really, the options with granola are endless. I was head over heels for the almond-raisin-cranberry version, but I was sure a tropical variety would take it up, like, 10 notches.

I took a look in the pantry yesterday and pulled out everything I could find that seemed tropical-ish. When I had this idea, I'd picked up some macadamia nuts and dried pineapple. Since then, I'd also acquired some dried mango (thanks to Tiff!). I was out of coconut, but still had a lot of white chocolate chips from my red velvet cookie venture. They seemed like an appropriate sweet substitute, and now my bars included just about everything but the kitchen sink.

I was super excited about this combination, but it turns out that sometimes more isn't better. I may have overdone it ... but just a tiny bit. Check out the recipe and my notes to learn more.

Tropical Granola-to-Go BarsIngredients:
3 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup sunflower kernels
1/2 cup dried pineapple, chopped
1/2 cup dried mango, chopped
1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:
Place oats in a 15x10x1-inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until toasted, stirring occasionally.

In a large bowl, combine the egg, butter, honey and vanilla. Stir in the sunflower kernels, pineapple, mango, brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir in macadamia nuts and chocolate chips. Stir in oat mixture.

Press into same baking dish you used to toast the oats, coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 13-18 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Store in an airtight container.


So the first time I attempted granola bars, I had to rebake them because they didn't set. And even after that, they were sort of chewy ... but super chewy-licious (even if they were sort of falling apart)! This time, I set the oven timer for 20 minutes instead of the initial 18 the recipe calls for. But then Bill waltzed into the kitchen wanting to make a frozen pizza (I didn't feed him dinner last night). Since his pizza needed a 400 degree oven, I decided to crank up the heat on my granola bars and check them in a few minutes to be sure they weren't getting too golden. Well, it's a good thing I checked them when I did because they were done at about 16 minutes. And when I say done, I might mean overdone.

They still turned out mostly chewy, but they are definitely not crumbling like they did last time. I'm wondering if I overloaded them with ingredients, making them too dense. (Or it could be that I just baked them a bit too long.) I'm not sure that my wet-to-dry ingredient ratio was quite right with either recipe ... perhaps I still have to find the right balance ... and actually measure instead of tossing in a handful of this and a pinch of that! Regardless, they still taste delicious! Although next time, I might melt the chocolate chips and drizzle them on top instead of baking them in. That would take it up, like, 20 notches!

Granola on the Go

So before we left for our Derby adventure, I stocked up on snacks for the road. We packed sandwiches, sodas, Sobe Life Waters, chips, Gardetto snacks, yogurt-covered pretzels, Swedish Fish, Snickers ... the works. Had we been stranded somewhere on 294, we would have been set for a while. But it turns out the drive wasn't as long as we originally anticipated (and we didn't end up stranded), so I didn't need such a complete stock. As usual, I went overboard.

We could have done without a lot of the stuff I packed, but one of the snacks I would not have given up was my homemade granola bars. I came across this recipe hidden in a pile of pages I had pulled from magazines, and I was super excited to make it. It made a huge pan that I've been munching from for more than a week now.

Granola-to-Go Bars
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup chopped almonds
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup sunflower kernels
1/4 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:
Combine oats and almonds in a 15x10x1-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until toasted, stirring occasionally.

In a large bowl, combine the egg, butter, honey and vanilla. Stir in the sunflower kernels, coconut, raisins, cranberries, brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir in oat mixture.

Press into same baking dish you used to toast the oats and almonds (coated again with cooking spray). Bake at 350 for 13-18 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Store in an airtight container.


I have to admit that I ended up re-baking these because I pulled them out of the oven too soon the first time. The edges were browning quickly, and I assumed they were set in the middle. But I should have known better (considering my huge failures in judging when brownies are set in the middle).

Luckily, I had no problem once I put them back in the oven (on the top rack to prevent the bottom from burning). They're a bit tough to cut into bars because they end up crumbling, but they still taste amazing. And the chewy chunks of granola that you pick out of the bottom of the pan are way better than any bar anyway!