granola bars!

I love finding recipes that my boys like (no surprise). We usually tweak recipes the boys want to try -- to get the right textures for my sensory boy who has a hard time chewing things with chunks or varying textures (chewy/crunchy at the same time). Once we hit the right combo we stick pretty close to our main recipe from there. This granola bar recipe originated from here...we have changed it a bit. Healthy, texture friendly, not too sweet, really really yummy. These are nice and chewy, which is a must for my boys. They don't like the rock hard crumbly things. These are perfect. My husband and I find ourselves nibbling away at them too, so there is an excuse to make more. And my 6 year old loves helping (who doesn't love squishing it all into the pan). And these are SO MUCH BETTER than any store bought granola bars.

::ingredients::

2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup sunflower seeds (roasted/salted OK too)
1 cup organic shredded coconut
1/2 cup golden flaxseed, freshly ground
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2/3 cup raw honey (a little less if you use sweetened coconut)
1/2 Tbsp blackstrap molasses
2-3 Tbsp organic unsweetened peanut butter or almond butter
3 Tbsp organic light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt

Up to 1 1/2 cups chopped dried fruit
(soft/chewy such as apricots, cranberries, raisins)
This time I used 1/2 cup finely chopped peaches we dehydrated

::directions::

Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF.
Wipe a little butter in a 9x13 baking dish and line it with parchment or foil.
Toss the oats, sunflower seeds and coconut together on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 or so minutes.
Stir it half way through.
Remove from the oven and pour into a big bowl.
Add the ground flax.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300ºF.
Heat the butter, honey, peanut butter, brown sugar, molasses, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan.
Bring to a boil and remove from heat - stir.
Stir it into the dry mix - keep stirring until all fully coated.
Stir in the dried chopped fruit.

Spread it in the prepared baking dish, pushing down to make a nice compact even layer. Wet your fingers - it will be easier to push it down without getting all sticky.

Bake for about 20-30 minutes.
Cool for an hour more before gently flipping the slab out of the baking dish - peel off the foil/parchment.

Cut into squares.
Store in an air-tight container.

Eat!


Some good variations include cinnamon, almonds, or sunflower nut butter...find your favorite!

goodness:: You know granola bars...they are packed with vitamins and fiber and all kinds of good stuff. Sunflower seeds - packed with vitamin E, B1, manganese, magnesium, copper, selenium, phosphorus, vitamin B5 and folate. Blackstrap molasses - iron, calcium, copper, manganese, potassium and magnesium. And that is just two of the ingredients!

If you prefer to soak and dehydrate your oats before baking with them, here is how you can do it...

dark oatmeal cookies

In my ongoing quest for good whole wheat flour cookies, I have also headed into the realm of oatmeal. I love the texture of oats, but don't really like using the quick oats, and don't like when cookies are too sugary tasting. This recipe turned out great. The dark sugars and molasses work well with the oats and whole wheat flour too - making a very rich robust chewy cookie (lots of flavor) that is soft fresh out of the oven and yet doesn't fall apart when stored. Even my 5 year old who doesn't like seeds or chunks in his food ate some - they smell so good!

::dark oatmeal cookies::

1 3/4 cup steel cut oats (not quick oats)
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt

1 1/4 stick butter, softened
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup turbinado (or granulated) sugar

1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp molasses

Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl. Set aside. In a mixer/Kitchen Aid, mix together sugars and butter until creamy. Add in egg, molasses, and vanilla - mixing a little in between each addition. Scoop in the dry ingredients from the bowl a bit at a time on low-med until all incorporated.

On a lined cookie sheet drop 1-2 tablespoon sized balls a few inches apart. Put into a pre-heated 375º oven (middle rack) for 10-11 minutes until golden brown! If you like them softer, pull out a minute early - if they are going in a cookie jar, leave them in the full time. Let sit on pan for 1 minute before transferring to a cooling rack.



ingredient tip::

Even a little bit of good quality molasses is a good thing. In addition to providing quickly assimilated carbohydrates, blackstrap molasses can increase your energy by helping to replenish your iron stores - blackstrap molasses is a very good source of iron. Blackstrap molasses is also an excellent source of manganese and copper and a good source of iron, calcium, vitamin B6, potassium, selenium and magnesium.

whole wheat snickerdoodles.

Over the past few years we have switched over to using only whole wheat flours. For bread we often grind our own flour, but we use whole wheat pastry flour or whole wheat white flour for baking everything from cookies to scones. My boys actually like the rich chewiness that whole wheat flour adds to recipes. I often will take traditional recipes and just substitute the whole wheat flour - but with some things (like cookies) it is good to tweak the recipe a little to compensate for how much moisture the whole wheat flour absorbs. In this recipe I used organic stone ground whole wheat pastry flour, turbinado sugar, and have a non-traditional ingredient in the mix too...coconut. It doesn't add much actual coconut flavor, but gives a nice texture and keeps the cookies from getting dry, I think.

::whole wheat snickerdoodles::

ingredients::
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups organic sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups white whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup organic UN-sweetened dry coconut flakes
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

to roll the cookies in
2 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp turbinado sugar

directions::
-Preheat the oven to 375 ºF
-Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper
-In a medium bowl stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar. Put aside.
-In a mixer, beat sugar with butter until light and creamy - about a minute or two.
-Mix in the eggs and vanilla.
-Add in the flour mixture a bit at a time until combined...

-In a small bowl, combine the 2 tsp cinnamon and 3 Tbsp sugar
-Roll bits of dough into balls (about 1 1/2 Tbsp per ball) and then roll in the cinnamon mixture to coat.
-Put the cookies about 2-3 inches apart on the cookie sheets.
-Bake for about 10 minutes...cookies should be light and golden.
-Let the cookies cool for a minute or two before transferring them to a cooling rack.



ingredient tip::

The health benefits from whole grains comes from the nutrients and fiber found in the grain kernel, including the germ and bran. So, whole grains contain the good stuff such as dietary fiber, starch, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, lignans, and phenolic compounds that have been linked to reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity and other chronic diseases!