Tangent Tuesday - Homemade Granola Bars...YUM!

Baking has been a passion of mine for a very long time!  As long as I can remember, in fact.  I think my love for baking is stemmed from three things:
one.  There is nothing like the feeling of calm I get while following a recipe, listening to the whir of my mixer, and rhythmically stirring, kneading, etc.
two.  I have an insatiable sweet tooth.
three.  Baking for someone is the easiest way to express love, gratification, and apology.  Sometimes I bake when I'm angry too, but I guess that's more for me than the person I'm mad at...

Anyway.  In my everyday life I also try to be healthy (I am NOT afraid of sugar and fat, my friend, but rather chemicals and "fake" food that a body just shouldn't have to ingest).  If you know me you know that I am certainly not strict about eating organically and naturally, but I try to make small, manageable changes in my everyday life.

Which brings me to granola bars!  Such tasty, delicious morsels of goodness!  They can be sweet, salty, chewy, crunchy - the list goes on and on.  Making granola bars is so simple, fast, and inexpensive that they are an easy exchange for the store-bought variety.  Plus, you will know EXACTLY what is in them - which doesn't include artificial flavors and sweeteners!  If there is a downside to this plan, I sure don't see it!

I've been trying different varieties of granola bars for a few years.  Some you bake, some you don't, some end up chewy, others are crunchy.  And the best part of course is that you get to put in exactly what you want - nuts, dried fruit, seeds, peanut butter, honey, coconut, banana, chocolate, carrots, raisins...

I decided to try a new recipe tonight, so that when I get together with some friends for Ladies Weekend I'll have a tasty, mostly healthy treat to share!

Home Made Granola Bars

I followed the recipe that you can find on this blog: givelovecreatehappiness and it turned out so well!  I followed the first recipe that is posted called "Nonna's Homemade Granola Bars".  I varied my ingredients slightly:

natural peanut butter

honey

unsweetened coconut

grated carrots

dark chocolate chips

raisins

walnuts

old fashioned oats

If you decide to add or subtract ingredients just make sure that the overall amount of dry ingredients stays about the same - otherwise the texture will be off.   I am very pleased with the overall result (and I'll have to keep these hidden until I leave on Friday if I hope to have any left) but I would make a few changes next time:

I would use either chocolate or raisins (not both) as the combo is too sweet for me

I would use more nuts and/or seeds to make the overall texture crunchier, and leave out some of the oats

I would bake it slightly longer; I baked it for 20 minutes

my kitchen timer -Trusty Trudy

Have you ever made homemade granola bars before?  What flavor combinations do you suggest? I would love some more ideas to try!

Tomorrow I'll finish up the brooch bouquet project by explaining how all of the pieces fit together!

Do It Yourself - And I'll Help!

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