If I don’t accomplish anything else today, at least I can go to bed knowing I used up the rest of yesterday’s condensed milk.
Today’s cookie was a granola bar. Eagle brand has a recipe on their site, but I didn’t want to use peanuts and I wanted a much smaller batch, so I made some changes.
First off, I used a 9 inch square pan. It worked out fine, but an 8 inch pan would work just as well if that’s all you have. I also toasted the oats, seeds and almonds and browned the butter. These are small steps, but they make a noticeable difference in the end product.
The only sweetness in these comes from the dried fruit and the condensed milk. These were plenty sweet, but not candy-like sweet.
Here are the ingredients. You could make whatever you want just by varying the brand/variety of mixed fruits. If you’ve been to Target lately, Archer Farms now makes about 300 gazillion varieties. I used a mix of cherries, blueberries, raisins, and other things.
Here’s a picture of the batter. It looked kind of grayish for some reason. Maybe stain from the dried blueberries? Luckily, the bars didn’t take on a gray/purple hue.
And here are the bars. They were chewy/crispy right out of the oven and will no doubt, harden up quite a bit after being chilled. I’ll definitely make them again. I’d like to try a no-fruit, chocolate chip & peanut butter version next…..or maybe a mocha chip version. Since these aren’t particularly sweet, I think they would take well to a handful of flavored chips being thrown in at the end – maybe cappuccino, cinnamon, butterscotch?
Toasted Oats & Browned Butter Granola Bars
1 1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup almonds (I used a mixture of whole almonds and sliced)
4 tablespoons salted butter
1/2 of a 14 oz can of condensed milk
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2-3/4 cup mixed dried fruit
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment. Spread oats, sunflower seeds and almonds over sheet and toast for 8-10 minutes or until the mixture starts to smell good.
Meanwhile, line a 9 inch square pan with parchment paper.
Place butter in a small saucepan and melt over medium heat. Cook melted butter for another minute or just until you start to see bits of brown around the edges. Swirl butter a bit in pan and remove from heat.
Dump toasted oat mixture into a large bowl. Stir in condensed milk, browned butter, cinnamon and vanilla. Press mixture into lined pan. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until lightly brown around edges
sandra
i just made these and they are great! i used a mixture of apricots, blueberries, cranberries, cherries and raisins for dried fruit. I used a slightly larger rectangular pan because they seemed too think in a 9″ one, probably because i had like a whole cup of fruit. next time i think i would add toasted rice things, like rice krispies and put them in a bigger pan.
thanks for the recipe!!
Terri
Thanks for the info. These will be good pre-run.
Anna
I just put them into Mastercook. I pasted the values below. They came in at 50% fat, but keep in mind a lot of that fat is from almonds and Sunflower seeds — good fat.
Per 1/12 of a 9 inch pan
229 Calories;
14g Fat
(53.1% calories from fat); 6g Protein;
22g Carbohydrate;
3g Dietary Fiber;
16mg Cholesterol;
62mg Sodium.
Terri
Love the doodling! These look really good. Any idea of the nutritional value (calories, fat grams, etc.)? I’m looking forward to making them.
Anna
Janice, Oprah was lots of fun. I especially liked staying at The Omni ;).
Kristin, thanks for throwing out a review. Also, yours were probably chewier than usual because they were right out of the refrigerator.
Steph, thanks for appreciating my highly refined doodling ability.
Steph
I love the photoshop doodles! : ) Your blog is really a day-brightener – and the bars look good too.
Kristin
Ok, here’s my review:
Good nutty/granola texture without being so chewy that it makes my mouth hurt. Sorta like the Powerbar Trail Mix bars, or the Mojo bar without the vitamin-y aftertaste. I am a fan of these!
Janice
Hey Anna!!
I saw you on Oprah too! You really do come up with some amazing ideas! Any more contests coming up? I love looking through your past recipes for sweet ideas… plus the pictures make my mouth water!
Anna
Oh yeah? How funny. Glad I keep the TV on Disney Channel ;).
surcie
Hey, I just saw you on Oprah!
Anna
I got carried away with the little paintbrush tool.
Ms. Chevious
Snort. Love Mr. Quaker’s antennae. Bars look yummy too!