EBTKS Granola Bars

I'm just going to come out and say it.
I'm a culinary hoarder.

I thought I would feel better saying it out loud but now I just feel kind of ashamed about it.

But, my shame is your gain.

I accumulate different oddball ingredients that I only need for one recipe and then I'm stuck with a whole lot of things like golden syrup or ground cardamom or turmeric or any variety of nuts. And then every time I open the cupboard, it's a glaring reminder of my wasteful consumerism.

Wasteful consumerism be damned, I was bound and determined to use up my really lovely ingredients and I found these granola bars to do it with. They have everything but the kitchen sink. Have no fear, I didn't use turmeric or ground cardamom in these, although that sounds like a bit of an Iron Chef challenge. Maybe I'll save that for a later post.



This recipe is really quite easy and not too time consuming and honest to pete, they are super tasty.
"Better than store bought?", you ask.

Well, if you're looking for a Kudos kind of granola bar, you're better off just buying yourself a candy bar, but if you're looking for Kashi type, slightly chewy/slightly crunchy bar, then yes, I would say these are better.

But that's just my opinion, man.

You start by toasting the majority of the ingredients. I left out the pistachios because they were already roasted, the raisins and the oat bran.


While they are toasting away in the oven you can combine the binding ingredients in a medium sauce pan over low heat. This is the glue that will hold it all together. The tasty, tasty glue.



During the toasting process things will start to smell heavenly.



I, amazingly enough, have never toasted coconut before, but after this, I might have to make it a regular occurrence.

After everything has been toasted, you throw it all in a large bowl.



And pour the binding concoction over the whole mess and quickly, but ever so carefully, mix it all together because that mammajamma is super hot and super sticky.

Spread the whole hot, sticky, and soon to be extremely tasty mess into a parchment lined pan and bake it for 25 mins.



You just have to let them cool, take them out of the pans, and cut into bars.

Now, I know when you take the pans out of the oven and smell that glorious, nutty, sweet smell, you'll  immediately want to take them out of the pan and cut them up to then stand over the kitchen sink while stuffing them into your face.

Wait, you don't have the urge to do that? You have better self control than that?

That's weird.

Well, if you did have that urge, fight it with all you've got because until they're completely cooled, they're still highly malleable and you'll just end up with  crumbly piles of granola instead of nice little neat bars. Which really is okay, if that's what you're going for.  It's not like I know from experience or anything.



Wrap them up in plastic wrap or put them in a plastic container and they'll last a little longer than a week. That is, if you have that much self control. We obviously have some self control issues to address up in here.

Enjoy!

EBTKS Granola Bars

Adapted from Alton Brown's Recipe

Like I said, the ingredients below were chosen simply to use up what I had in my pantry.
You can swap any of the nuts, seeds or dried fruit to adapt the recipe to compliment your tastes.

Makes 10-12 bars

8 Ounces Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
2 Ounces Roasted Pistachios
3 Ounces Slivered Almonds
1 Ounce Flax Seeds
2 Ounces Raw Sunflower Seeds
1 1/2 Ounces Oat Bran
3 Ounces Golden Raisins
3 Ounces Sweeten Shredded Coconut
6 Ounces Honey
1 3/4 Ounces Brown Sugar
1 Ounce Unsalted Butter
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1/2 Teaspoon Fine Sea Salt


Prepare your baking dish by either lining it with parchment paper or buttering. You can use a 9 x 9 dish or, as you can see, I used 2 large loaf pans.
Set oven racks to the 2 center positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the oats, slivered almonds, flax seeds and sunflower seeds out on a shallow baking pan. Do the same with the coconut.

Place these two pans in the oven and toast for about 15 mins, rotating and stirring occasionally. The coconut will take less than 15 mins so just keep an eye on it and as soon as it starts to turn golden brown, remove from oven and let cool.
After oat mixture is done toasting, remove and let cool and reduce oven to 300 degrees.

While ingredients are toasting in oven, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract and sea salt in a medium sauce pan over low heat.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until brown sugar is completely dissolved and mixture is just starting to bubble.

Immediately add the brown sugar mixture to oat mixture and stir to combine.
Carefully turn mixture out into prepared pan(s) and press down with spatula, making sure mixture is evenly distributed.
Bake for 25 mins, rotating half way through.
Remove from oven and as cautioned before, allow to cool completely, cut into desired shapes and wrap  individually in plastic wrap or place in an airtight container for up to a week.