Tuesday, January 13, 2015

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

7 comments:

Zosia said...

My pantry was the opposite of yours after holiday baking with lots of little bits that needed using up. I love that you included hazelnuts...they look and sound delicious!

Approaching Food said...

Hazelnuts -- what a great addition! Your bars look yummy!

Kayte said...

Oh, your bars are so pretty. They look delicious with all those bits poking out. I'm like you, down on ingredients after the holidays, time to take inventory and restock I guess! Nice job and lovely photos.

Adriana said...

I love snacking on dried apricots, so I was kicking myself in the shins for not saving a few for this granola. I think they would go great with macadamia nuts.

caramelizelife.com said...

I'm in the same boat as Zosia, lots of things to use up so this recipe was great! I do like your idea of using hazelnuts. Yum.
cheers

Golden Life PHX said...

It's so fun to see the unique ingredients everyone used. I love hazelnuts in my granola so I bet they were fab in these bars.

Cathleen | My Culinary Mission said...

Love hazelnuts - what a great addition to these delicious and easy bars. I'm a fan of apricots as well.