Recipe: Crunchy Granola Bars Cookbook Recipe

Yesterday we reviewed Emily Franklin's Too Many Cooks: Kitchen Adventures with 1 Mom, 4 Kids, and 102 Recipes, a great book full of improvisational cooking and healthy, practical, delicious recipes. We promised to share one more recipe, and here it is — a tried and tested, easy, terrifically yummy recipe for homemade crunchy granola bars.

I realize that we already shared one granola recipe from Emily with you; she made homemade granola during the tour of her kitchen. But at the risk of making you think she only cooks granola (she most emphatically does not; every other recipe in the book is non-granola, I promise), I just had to share this one.

Homemade granola and protein bars are perhaps the single biggest recipe request we get from our readers. You want fast, easy recipes for breakfast on the go. We've shared dried fig and nut bars and some other baked breakfast items, but no granola bars yet. Well, these bars are a fabulous recipe for the morning or for snacking, and they are definitely the keeper we've been looking for.

If you keep these ingredients around already then these are very cheap to put together. I substituted agave syrup and molasses for the brown rice syrup, since I just don't keep it around. I also used a nutty flax cereal instead of bran buds, which I couldn't find at my little co-op. And, sadly, I completely forgot to put in the fruit! I had a nice little bag of dried cherries all ready; I will have to save them for the next batch.

Because, you see, there will definitely be a second batch. These granola bars are so quick and easy, and they turned out exactly as I hoped they would. They're crunchy, but not brittle, with a slight chewiness still in the center. They are sweet, but with the sweetness of natural things — not sugary and over-sweetened. They are marvelously full of flavor, and they are much more filling than you would expect.

My only quibble is that they are slightly more crumbly than I would like, but this may very well be due to my substitutions and forgetfulness. Also, my peanut butter was rather dry. Next time I will add a touch more honey and peanut butter.

So, all of you who have emailed and asked for granola bar recipes — this is the one! Enjoy! And thank you, Emily.

Crunchy Granola Bars

9x9" pan, about a dozen long bars

You can shift around these ingredients depending on what you have around, but these make a satisfying snack or quick breakfast.

3 1/2 tbsp. soy butter (or almond or peanut butter), preferably chunky
3 tbsp. honey
3 1/2 tbsp. brown rice syrup
Big splash of vanilla
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 cups puffed wheat/rice/kamut
1/2 cup bran buds/Grape-Nuts cereal
1 1/2 cups rolled oats (not the quick-cook kind)
1 handful (about 1/3 cup) dried cranberries or cut-up dried apricot
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup salted sunflower seeds (or a mixture with raw)
Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325°. Line 8- or 9-inch square pan with a long sheet of parchment paper (you want longer ends than the length of the pan). Warm soy butte,r honey, brown rice syrup, vanilla, and brown sugar until sugar has melted and soy butter has thinned. Mix dry ingredients in big bowl and dust with cinnamon. Pour liquid on top, mixing as you go. When everything is equally coated, spread the mixture into the pan. Press mixture down with long ends of the parchment paper. Bake for about 25 minutes. When you remove the pan from the oven, again use long ends of the parchment to press bars flat. Allow to cool completely before touching again. When totally cooled and hard, lift the ends of the parchment and put onto a cutting board and cut into longish bars or squares.

Note: You can add crushed almonds or slivered ones, or toasted coconut if you like, or raisins — golden and brown — if desired.

• Buy the book: Too Many Cooks: Kitchen Adventures with 1 Mom, 4 Kids, and 102 Recipes, $16 at Amazon.com

• Visit the author's website: Emily Franklin

Originally published May 5, 2009.

(Images: Faith Durand)

Comments (7)

I love granola bars - and love making my own so that I can control what goes in them/how sweet they are.

My current favorite recipe is from Heidi at 101cookbooks (I use the one in her cookbook, but she has a variation of that recipe on her blog called 'Big Sur Power Bars'). So good!

I recommend using the brown rice syrup (you can find it at Wholefoods, and also in the natural aisle/section of many regular grocery stores). It has that gooey/sticky texture of honey, but is not nearly as sweet, so the bars come out nice and chewy, but not cloyingly sweet.

I've got a pretty awesome recipe for granola bars as well. Very easy to make, and extremely yummy. Low in fat and sugar. It's also an extremely versatile recipe that you can put just about anything into.

@Grumpy Girl, yes, Emily mentioned to me that the brown rice syrup really does make these stick together better. Next time I'll try it!

Does anyone have recommendations about how to store the granola bars? It an airtight container? In the fridge? I'd love to make these but will only eat about one a day and don't' want to end up finding half the batch inedible after a few days...

I also love making my own granola bars - and yes, the brown rice syrup is a must! For storage, I wrap individual bars in foil, keep them in the fridge, and snack on them all week long. I don't even think they need to be refrigerated, but the fridge is the most convenient spot!

I have made these twice, and in fact I just picked up some puffed wheat cereal to make more this morning.

I keep mine in an airtight plastic container with a layer of parchment on the bottom and one between the layers of the bars. It keeps them from sticking. I just keep them on the counter so they are easy to grab and go. I would say they keep for about a week like this. They don't usually last longer because we gobble them up.

I love experimenting with different granola bar recipes. I typically wrap mine in plastic wrap and sometimes even keep them in an airtight container after that. I store them in the cupboard, and they keep for about 2 weeks.

I also typically freeze some of the bars (what can I say, I can't get enough of trying new recipes, and have found myself with piles of granola bars). I wrap them individually (and tightly) in plastic and they keep for about a month. When I see myself running low, I just bring a few out for the week and allow them to thaw overnight.

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