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Friday, March 6, 2009

being resourceful

i love granola bars. unfortunately, they can be kind of an expensive snack for someone on a tight budget. luckily, someone resourceful out there made up their own recipe and gave it to my mom many moons ago. moral of the story - if there is something you love and it's out of your budget - see if you can make it yourself!

not the world's most healthy snack (or the world's unhealthiest either), but they're way better (and way cheaper) than store bought. and... i've been totally craving them and wanted to share.

homemade chewy granola bars

picture from allrecipes.com (different recipe, but they look kind of like these!)

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

¼ cup sugar

½ cup butter, softened

2 tablespoons honey

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 cup flour (try whole wheat and just use a little less)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 ½ cup rolled oats

1 ¼ cup rice crispies

1 cup chopped almonds (i prefer less)

½ cup wheat germ

1 cup chocolate chips or raisins, optional (i use less!)

1. grease 9 x 13 pan. cream brown sugar, sugar and butter until fluffy. add honey, vanilla

2. and egg, mix well. add flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt at low speed. stir in remaining ingredients.

3. press firmly into botton of prepared dish. bake @ 350 for 12 minutes in conventional oven (or microwave on medium for 7-9 minutes rotating dish ½ turn every 3 minutes)

6 comments:

Kristi said...

Wow, that sounds so good. I am totally going to try this recipe. I am just scared I am going to eat the whole pan in one sitting. (I also haven't eaten lunch yet so I could just be really hungry right now.)

BrittWilk said...

yeah, i will probably do the same. so good! let me know how you like them!

Sharon said...

Those look so professional & perfect! Definitely better than all the mystery ingredients that granola bars usually have.

BrittWilk said...

they taste professional and perfect too! hope you like them, sharon!

JoSue said...

I recently took a healty cookie recipe and made it into a granola bar recipe. They are eggless and butterless and made with applesauce. If you're interested, let me know.

Kristi said...

Alright, I finally made this recipe! So yummy! I didn't have honey so I used 1 tablespoon of maple sryup and 1/2 and extra egg. Also I learned that I don't like cinnamon and chocolate together. Next time (because there will be a next time.) I'll omit the cinnamon and do 1/2 chocolate chips and 1/2 peanut butter chips, can't wait! Thanks for the recipe!

healthy cooking on a budget

disclaimer: i don't claim to be an expert on cooking, weight loss or even healthy eating, but i do love to cook, find healthy, taste bud-friendly tricks and most of all, i love to eat!

qualifications: what qualifies me to blog on cooking healthy on a small budget? well, as my husband is still a student, my budget is not what you'd call large. and as for the healthy part, when i was 10 i was diagnosed with pancreatitus - a disease that doesn't effect me much anymore unless i eat food that is too greasy or has too much fat (in which case, well, let's just say i get really sick). this had steered my experience and limited cooking expertise in a health-conscious direction.

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