Granola Energy Bars

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe is for Granola Energy Bars.I've tried making granola bar-type things before without a lot of success so I was looking forward to seeing if Dorie's recipe would work better. Her recipe looked very straight-forward and you could use the ingredients you wanted, based on what you had on hand. The only unusual ingredient in the recipe was brown rice syrup, which was supposed to help the granola bars stick together. Since that is the trouble that I usually have, I decided to pick some of that up and try it.

The brown rice syrup is very similar to honey, kind of like and extra sticky honey and the flavor is a little different. I made my granola bars with hazelnuts and almonds and for the fruits I used dried apricots and cherries. My cupboard is nearly bare of dried fruits! We used them in the Christmas cake and haven't restocked yet. I forget how much I like dried apricots and should use them more often. The brown rice syrup did help the bars stick together better. I forgot to add the vanilla, but they taste fine without it.

I started these about 9 pm last night, and took them out of the oven at 10 pm. I didn't realize they had to cool for several hours, so I ended up cutting them in the morning. They are a little crisp along the edges, but they maintain a chewy texture. The syrup seeped to the bottom of the bars a bit so they are extra sticky on the bottom! All in all, these were very successful and they taste great. I'd certainly give these a try again with a different combination of mix-ins. Don't forget to check out the Tuesdays with Dorie site to see how everyone else did with this week's recipe.

Recipe from Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan, page 328