Oatmeal granola bars.

 

(Em português)

Some people just can't live without an afternoon snack, without something to chew.

For example, yours truly.

So I have tested quite a few granola bar recipes, to try and stop eating unhealthy snacks.

This was the one that come out right.

The only thing about it is that I have no clue as to where I got it from. I found it written down in a loose paper inside my organizer. Oh, well.

1 cup + 2 tablespoons rolled oats (I actually used half of this measure in rolled oats and half of it in oatmeal)

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

5 generous tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1/2 cup chopped raw pistachios/ walnuts/ Brazil nuts/ sunflower seeds

1 generous tablespoon sesame seeds

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 egg white

(Cup measure: 240ml)

In a bowl, I stirred together all of the dry ingredients.

Aside, in a ceramic bowl (could be glass as well) I whipped the egg white with a fouet until foamy. It took about a minute. This needs to be done kindly, since the egg white should not come to form peaks.

Then I took the honey and oil to melt in a small pan over medium heat until they started ti foam. I immediately turned off the heat and poured the honey mixture into the oats mixture and mixed it all until the oat mixture was coated, and let it cool down a bit. [So, how many times did I use the verb "mix" in this sentence?!]

Meanwhile, I lined a baking pan with parchment paper (leaving "handles" out) and generously greased the paper with coconut oil.

I used a large baking pan, to I had leftover space. The essential thing is that the bar dough remains compact and 1cm high. If that happens, you can use any baking pan available.

Anyway, when I was done greasing the pan, I poured the egg white foam in the oat mixture, mixed until smooth, and poured over the greased paper. [Woah, Flora. Again!]

I spread the dough and pushed it with my (greased) hands to make it compact and 1cm high.

I baked it in preheated oven at 150oC for 30 minutes.

The oats should be slightly brown on top. I took the baking pan out of the oven, using the paper handles I carefully took the dough out and placed it on top of a cutting board.

I cut 12 equal pieces, leaving them all together. Returned the bars to the oven for 20 minutes more, at 130oC.

Then I took them out again, let cool for 5 minutes, carefully separated the individual bars and peeled off the paper.

I placed them in the baking pan and took the whole thing to the oven again for 10 minutes at 130oC, leaving the bottom side up.

Then I just had to wait for them to cool completely (on a rack) and store in a glass jar or ziplock, you could also wrap in cellophane paper to carry them around.

PS: I would say you can substitute the honey with molasses, or corn syrup, or maple syrup, but I haven't tried it.

I would say as well you could substitute the 1/2 cup nuts with other kinds of nuts, or with dried fruits - as long as it is always chopped in small pieces. (If the "filling" is left in chunky pieces, the bars won't keep their shape, so they will brake). You could even use some chopped chocolate.

The coconut oil could be substituted with butter, peanut butter, tahine, in the same proportion; or with liquid oils such as olive oil, corn oil, etc - only in this case you should use 1 tablespoon oil.

I haven't tested any of these suggestions, but eventually I will, and I think all of them should work fine.

All in all, I kept my bars for about a month, I left them in the fridge as a safety measure.

They turned out crunchy and yummy, even a friend of mine who feeds essentially on chocolate liked them. Test the recipe and let me know about the result. :)

PS 2: the napkin in the pictures also is a print by Orbitato for Copa e Cia.

PS 3: In November 29, 2013 I am updating this post with another information.I forgot to mention, but reader Viviane reminded me: after they cool down, the bars harden a little bit.
Therefore, don't worry if they don't come out of the oven completely crunchy, all you have to do is wait a little and they will stabilize their texture.