Thursday, December 9, 2010

Tummy Time: Granola Bars with Almonds and Dates

For an easy and healthy snack, this is the bar for you! 

I like it because I am able to sneak some sprouted almonds into my kiddos diets.  (They don’t like to eat nuts . . . unless the word butter follows the name of the nut.)

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Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter or coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup honey (or maple syrup --  that is if you don’t have a hive in your backyard)
  • 4 cups uncooked oats
  • 1 cup chopped almonds
  • 1 cup chopped dates
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 9x13 pan with coconut oil or butter.  (When I want to do this quickly – I use olive oil – but it kind of reminds me of the smell of a boat dock when I do this.   Don’t ask me why. )

Use a pitch fork or whisk and blend the melted butter and honey together.  I accomplished this task by heating the two ingredients ever so gently on the stove like so . . . .

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Pretend you are playing basketball and dribble the liquid mixture into an already tossed oats, almonds, dates and cinnamon.  

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Let me tell you about a little secret tool I have in my kitchen.  It’s called a ula knife.  The wood board with concave impression combined with a curved and VERY sharp blade makes chopping herbs, veggies, nuts, and dried fruit super duper easy . . . and fast.  I often prefer my ula knife over a food processor.  (Less to clean up . . . if I have to be honest.)

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With some self-control, slightly beat the eggs and then stir them into the oaty (I made that word up) mixture.

Press wet granola into your greased pan.  I found the easiest way to accomplish this uniformly, without using a sledge hammer, was to use the bottom of a measuring cup. 

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Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

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If you don’t want to burn your taste buds, then allow the bars to cool.  Cut into bars – any size you like! 

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