Another attempt at Granola Bars

So after my first granola bar failure ( because all I got was something that resembled granola) I tried two recipes and they both turned out amazing. Except that one of the recipe was super soft ( more like a fusion of granola bars and banana bread- amazing combo) and the other was super crisp and crunchy, like a nature valley bar. The great thing about making them yourself is that you can add whatever you want: if you don't like raisins, don't put raisins, if you love walnuts add a load of walnuts! Either way you can do whatever you want with these two recipes, one actually requires some granola so you can use whatever  granola you like best, I used the same recipe as in the last 'granola bars' recipe. The oatmeal square recipe is one of my new favorites, it is unbelievably simple to make, and so versatile, the recipe comes from 'Cookies' by the cook's encylopedia's collection.
Oat Squares (Crispy Granola Bars)

• 55g (4 tablespoons) butter
• 1&1/2 tablespoons Molasses
• 65g (1/3 cup) brown sugar
• 90g (1 cup) rolled oats
• 1/4 cup nuts,dried fruit, or anything else you feel like adding, about a small handful

Pre-heat your oven to 350F/180C

  1. Either in your microwave or in a pot on your stove, melt the butter,molasses and sugar. 

2.Add the oats and nuts or dried fruit of your choice. 

3.Put the mixture into a 8x8 inch tin, and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Once cool, cut into squares.

Banana Bread like Granola Bars:

(Adapted from Williams Sonoma's 'Kids Cookies')

• 40g (1/3 cup) all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 ripe banana
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 egg white
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1&1/3 cup granola (weight depends on your granola)

Pre-heat your oven to 350F/180C

1. Mash the banana in a bowl, using a fork then add the brown sugar,oil,honey,egg white and vanilla an mix until they are thoroughly combined.           

 2. Beat in the flour, baking soda and cinnamon until thoroughly combined. 

Fold in the granola, then pour the mixture into a 8x8 inch square baking pan.Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown After taking it out of the oven, let it cool then cut into 16 squares.

Make it Yourself

Granola Bars
You may  be thinking: Why in the world would you make your own granola bars? (Maybe your not) This is not one of those things I make from scratch (although I make almost everything from scratch) so that I know what I put in it, changed it to fit my taste, although granola bars are a perfect example for this, I for instance don't like raisins. The simple reason that I make Granola bars is because I love them. You may now be thinking, well why don't you just go to the store and buy some then? THEY DON'T EXIST! I think that anyone, in desperate need for granola bars, would be happy to make them. Don't get me wrong though, they sell plenty of cereal bars and things of the sort, but you can' actually buy any real granola bars. My first unbuyable need was granola. Which may sound weird because here in Switzerland they have Muesli which is really similar and really good, it just isn't the same thing. So I make granola all the time and it's amazing, and I tried to make granola bars today, and got carried away when I was adding oats,thinking it would be fine but it turned out so dry that  it crackled into small pieces. I've decided to post the original adaption of the recipe, not what I did, 1) because it didn't work,2) because I don't even know how much more I added.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen:

• 1 2/3 cups old fashioned rolled oats 
• 1/2  cup granulated sugar 
• 1/3 cup oat flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup chopped almonds
• 1(or 1/2) cup chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup peanut butter 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons honey

This recipe is super-simple: Dump all the ingredients in and bowl and combine (and don't think it's too sticky like I did) and bake at 350F/ 180C (8"x8"x2" baking pan for thick bars) for 30-40 minutes.

Although my didn't make Granola bars I just use it as granola now, because it crumbled up, but it still tastes delicious.