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 says
July 16, 2009 at 12:16 pmi 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 says
August 10, 2006 at 12:31 pmThanks for the info. These will be good pre-run.
Anna says
August 10, 2006 at 9:04 amI 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 says
August 10, 2006 at 8:53 amLove the doodling! These look really good. Any idea of the nutritional value (calories, fat grams, etc.)? I’m looking forward to making them.
Anna says
August 10, 2006 at 7:38 amJanice, 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 says
August 10, 2006 at 5:36 amI love the photoshop doodles! : ) Your blog is really a day-brightener – and the bars look good too.
Kristin says
August 9, 2006 at 11:37 pmOk, 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 says
August 9, 2006 at 7:28 pmHey 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 says
August 9, 2006 at 3:58 pmOh yeah? How funny. Glad I keep the TV on Disney Channel ;).
surcie says
August 9, 2006 at 3:01 pmHey, I just saw you on Oprah!
Anna says
August 9, 2006 at 2:11 pmI got carried away with the little paintbrush tool.
Ms. Chevious says
August 9, 2006 at 1:44 pmSnort. Love Mr. Quaker’s antennae. Bars look yummy too!