Granola Bars

When I posted about granola, one of my readers told me that she uses milk instead of water, and less brown sugar. I like the idea of more nutrition, and less sugar, so I tried it. I thought it tasted good with milk and yogurt, but not sweet enough for just a snack. Here's the revised recipe:

Granola

14 cups oats
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 T dry milk powder
3/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup water
1 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
1 Tbs. vanilla

Mix oats, salt, cinnamon, and powdered milk together in a very large bowl (or 2 large bowls). Add remaining ingredients, and mix until combined. Spread on 2 cookie sheets. Put in oven set at 325 for 30 minutes. Turn off oven. Remove cookie sheets from oven and stir. Put baking sheets back in oven. The oven should be off, but still hot. Allow to sit in oven for 2-3 hours. If oven cools down, you may turn it back on to heat the oven, then turn it back off again.


How I really liked it, though, was in granola bars. I may even try this again using even less brown sugar than the recipe above. I got this recipe from USU Extensions. It would be really good with dried fruit, nuts, or M&M's stirred in with the granola.

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

1/2 cup corn syrup
2/3 cup peanut butter
3 cups granola

Lightly grease a 9x9 pan. Heat corn syrup in a large pan. Boil 1 minute. Add peanut butter, stirring until smooth. Add granola and mix, off of heat. Pat into pan. Cool then cut into bars.

Granola

I made my usual granola recipe yesterday, but I changed the baking directions. Usually I cook it for about 2 hours at 225, stirring ever 15-30 minutes. Yesterday, though, I cooked it at 325 for about 30 minutes before I realized I had it at the wrong temperature. Then, because I wasn't able to stir it as often as I thought I should, because my kids needed my attention, I shut off the oven and just left it there. The result was that the granola stayed in clumps, and that it wasn't as crispy as it typically is. It was wonderful! Thus, my new baking directions were born.
This granola recipe is a very simple one. I love granola with nuts, dried fruit, and coconut. This does not have any of that. I add it after if I really want it. But, it is delicious just as it is as a breakfast cereal (either warm or cold), with yogurt, or as a dessert with ice cream or chocolate chips.

Granola

14 cups oats
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup water
1 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
1 Tbs. vanilla

Mix oats, salt, and cinnamon together in a very large bowl (or 2 large bowls). Add remaining ingredients, and mix until combined. Spread on 2 cookie sheets. Put in oven set at 325 for 30 minutes. Turn off oven. Remove cookie sheets from oven and stir. Put baking sheets back in oven. The oven should be off, but still hot. Allow to sit in oven for 2-3 hours. If oven cools down, you may turn it back on to heat the oven, then turn it back off again.

Wheat Bread

I created this recipe by combining several other recipes, because I wanted a wheat bread recipe that was quick, easy, did not include a lot of unusual ingredients, and that was light. In the process I learned several things about wheat bread. First, if you want 100% wheat bread to be light, you have to use an electric mixer with a dough hook. Otherwise, you have to add a lot more flour. Second, unlike when making white bread, you add the flour then 10 minutes later it comes away from the sides of the bowl. (When making white bread in a KitchenAid, you keep adding flour until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.) 


Recipe revisited here.

Whole Wheat Bread

6 ½ cups whole wheat flour

1 ¼ T yeast

2 1/3 cups lukewarm water

1 T salt

1 egg

1/3 cup oil

2 T + 2 tsp molasses (or honey)

2 T + 2 tsp honey

1 ¼ T bottled lemon juice

Remove egg from refrigerator and set on counter. Mix 3 ½ cups flour and yeast together in an electric mixer with dough hook attached. (On a KitchenAid, you should never exceed speed 2 when using the dough hook.) Add water all at once, and mix for one minute, scraping sides as needed. Cover with a dish towel and let rest for 10 minutes. Add salt, egg, oil, molasses, honey, and lemon juice, and mix for one minute. Add remaining 3 cups of flour, one cup at a time, mixing between each cup. Beat until dough comes away from the sides of the bowl (mostly), about 10 minutes. If after 11 minutes dough has not come away from the edges of the bowl, you may add additional flour, a couple of tablespoons at a time. The dough should feel a little sticky, but soft.

Preheat oven for 1 minute (at any temperature), then turn off oven. Divide dough, and, with oiled hands, place in 2 oiled 8x4 inch bread pans. (You may shape the dough if you wish, but it is not required.) Let rise in warm oven for 10-15 minutes, or until dough reaches the top of the bread pans. Do not remove bread from oven. Turn oven on to 350ºF, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove bread from pans, and cool on racks.