# Homemade granola bars?



## simonbaker (Mar 19, 2011)

I am trying to make homemade granola bars with not much luck. I've taken quaker, quick oats, Made a thick paste, added craisins, chopped walnuts & a little peanut butter to bind. I formed them into bars & baked them. They did not turn out to well. I was thinking maybe egg whites? I'm looking for a healthy homemade, filling granola bar without preservatives. Any suggestions?


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## bakechef (Mar 19, 2011)

Maybe honey or maple syrup to help them stick together and give them some sweetness.  My mom used to make them when I was a kid, don't think she still has the recipe though.


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## NoraC (Mar 19, 2011)

When I was young and foolish and back packing a lot, I made a lot of portable, low "simple carb" foods. 40 years later, I have forgotten the recipes, but probably ought to return to such foods for other reasons.  I recall that granola bars were dead easy, once you got the basic idea in your head; so, I googled around to refresh my memory.  Here is an ingredient list that looks amazingly familiar:
                  1/2 c. honey 
3/4 c. peanut butter 
3 c. granola or muesli 
1/2 c. chopped nuts 
 1/3 c. dried apricots or raisins 
 1/4 c. toasted sunflower seeds 
 1/4 c. coconut 
 1/4 c. wheat germ 
 1/4 c. toasted sesame seed

The trick was to boil the honey for a while, not long enough for "soft ball" or anything, but long enough to have it cool to being a little more viscous than raw honey, then dissolve the PNB in it.  Once the honey/PNB mix is combined, you add approximately 5 cups of healthy, high fiber, complex carb "stuff", mix (and think of rice krispy treats, because the process is the same), press into a greased or nonstick 9 x13, cool, cut and wrap.  

The 5 C of "stuff" here is a good starting place.  I think I was cheap and always used  a couple of cups of old fashioned oats, toasted on a baking sheet at 375, though a good granola always played some part.  I am partial to dates, so I know I used those in place of the coconut sometimes.  

In the bottom of a backpack, these may be more mounds than bars after a few days, but tasted fine.  They are stable in a more stable environment, lol.

...ya know, I bet that someone with a spa type restaurant could press the mix into a small bowl shape, fill that bowl with Greek yogurt, garnish with fresh fruit and have a real hit...


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## Selkie (Mar 19, 2011)

Besides using Instant Oats in place of Quick Oats (Instant is completely pre-cooked), I don't see any reason for you to have baked anything. There are no "baking" items in your list.

Nora C has a very good recipe for what it is that you're looking for. Swap the oats for the granola of you don't happen to have any, and not everyone uses wheat germ, but if you have it, by all means use it. Her point, and mine, is to be flexible with your "stuff" but you only need to heat the honey and peanut butter, as she indicates, in order to hold everything together.


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## simonbaker (Mar 19, 2011)

NoraC said:


> When I was young and foolish and back packing a lot, I made a lot of portable, low "simple carb" foods. 40 years later, I have forgotten the recipes, but probably ought to return to such foods for other reasons. I recall that granola bars were dead easy, once you got the basic idea in your head; so, I googled around to refresh my memory. Here is an ingredient list that looks amazingly familiar:
> 1/2 c. honey
> 3/4 c. peanut butter
> 3 c. granola or muesli
> ...


 Thank you nora! I will make it first thing monday morning.


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## mommyNY2 (Apr 17, 2011)

i have used recepie in the box for old fashion oats (oatmeal) on the cover


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## MostlyWater (Apr 17, 2011)

i do better by making my own granola and then eating an energy bar later.  you can google recipe for energy bar or homemade larabar.


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## betterthanabox (Apr 18, 2011)

I am going to have to try making them!


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## Fabiabi (Apr 19, 2011)

Making your own granola mix is fairly easy, the nuts and seeds can be a bit expensive but you get far more for your money. It's often the case that there is lots of sugar in shop bought bars so with making your own you know exactly how much sugar/honey you're putting in.


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## Linda123 (Apr 19, 2011)

This sounds great, but peanutbutter is one of the few fattening foods that I don't particularly care for. What else could I use?


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## taxlady (Apr 19, 2011)

Linda123 said:


> This sounds great, but peanutbutter is one of the few fattening foods that I don't particularly care for. What else could I use?



Just leave it out.

Add any nuts and seeds you like. Add rolled oats, rolled buckwheat, rolled wheat, whatever, in a proportion that you like.


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## Linda123 (Apr 19, 2011)

I thought it might be needed for "stickiness" but I guess the honey would do that?


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## taxlady (Apr 19, 2011)

Linda123 said:


> I thought it might be needed for "stickiness" but I guess the honey would do that?



If you are just making granola, you don't need it for stickiness.

If you are making granola bars, you might need it. I have made lots of granola, but never made granola bars. If it is needed for the stickiness, you could use a different kind of nut butter (almond, cashew, hazelnut - whatever you can find and you like) or probably even tahini.


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## Linda123 (Apr 19, 2011)

Oh yum...almond, cashew or hazelnut butter sounds perfect! Thanks!


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## springthyme (Jun 11, 2011)

Hi, I would LOVE to make a version of these, but like the majority of us, cannot afford to waist presious ingredients! Below is what was suggested...
1/2 c. honey 
3/4 c. peanut butter 
3 c. granola or muesli 
1/2 c. chopped nuts 
1/3 c. dried apricots or raisins 
1/4 c. toasted sunflower seeds 
1/4 c. coconut 
1/4 c. wheat germ 
1/4 c. toasted sesame seed

Do you all think that THESE substitutions would work???  Does it look like they would all hold together in a bar situation?  Thanks for your ideas and suggestions!

1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. agave nector
3/4 c. coconut butter
1 c. toasted rolled oats
2 c. puffed rice
1/4 c. toasted coconut
1/4 c. mini dark organic choc. chips
1/3 c. shelled hemp seed
1/4 c. wheat bran


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## CWS4322 (Jun 11, 2011)

MostlyWater said:


> i do better by making my own granola and then eating an energy bar later. you can google recipe for energy bar or homemade larabar.


 I was going to suggest to make your own granola first and then make the bars. That is what I used to do when I was a student and didn't have much money--I'd steal the ingredients from my mother's pantry when I visited. Maybe she didn't consider it stealing, I just took stuff home that I could eat <g>. I have been meaning to make granola with the maple syrup we evaporated this past spring, but I have so many other things on my plate, I haven't gotten around to making granola or granola bars!


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