Granola Bars from My Own Oven

I’ve been making my own granola bars for awhile now to eat healthier and save some money.

They are healthier…

They are cheaper (even though honey is expensive)…

They are more filling…

They are more yummy…

…than your average storebought granola bar. 

They are so great. I’ve played around with the recipe a few times and I think I finally got it perfect. So now I want to share :) So here it is (adapted from Kitchen Stewardship).

4 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup of applesauce

3/4 cup honey

any add ins you like

Preheat oven to 325. Mix together all the ingredients in a large bowl. Go big. When I say large I mean LARGE. Press the mixture into a greased 9x13 in pan. Really compact it so your granola bars will be granola bars and not granola crumbles. Bake for 20-25 mins, until golden. Let cool for at least 10 minutes. Cut into whatever size bars you like. 

Nutella at home.

I just made my own nutella, and yes. It is delicious. And because I love it so much, I’ll totally share the recipe I used and my secrets in making it :) 


Homemade Nutella Recipe
yield: about 1.5 cups

  • 2.5 oz (about 2/3 cups) roasted unsalted hazelnuts
  • 1/4 cup milk 
  • 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 3 tbsp honey, agave nectar, or other liquid sweetener
  • a food processor

The first step is to toast the hazelnuts. If you use the roasted unsalted hazelnuts from Oh Nuts, they technically don’t need to be toasted, but I think toasting nuts, even pre-roasted ones, adds a depth of flavor that’s important to the finished product.

So place your nuts in a preheated 350 degree oven, and toast them until they’re brown and fragrant, about 10-12 minutes. Be sure to stir them every 3-4 minutes to keep them from burning. Once they’re toasted, set them aside until they’re no longer hot.

The food processor is going to do most of the work in this recipe, so prepare yourself for a lot of food processor pictures. Start by adding the cooled, toastedhazelnuts to the processor bowl.

Turn the food processor on, and after a minute or two you’ll be left with very finely ground hazelnuts. Wonderful for sprinkling on pastries, but that’s not what we’re going for, so keep processing.

After another minute, the nuts will start to clump together around the blade, and you’ll find you have a smooth paste like this. Add a touch of salt, and you’ve create a tasty hazelnut butter! But you didn’t come to this tutorial to learn how to make hazelnut butter, you came for Nutella, so turn that processor back on….

Success! After about 5 minutes, your hazelnuts should be processed into a liquid. Scrape down the sides and the blade and process until there are no lumps remaining. Set the hazelnuts aside while you prepare the chocolate portion of the recipe.

The chocolate will need to be melted, so you can either use a microwave-safe bowl, or use the double boiler method on the stovetop. Whichever you choose, combine the chopped chocolate, condensed milk, and honey in a bowl.

If you’re using a double boiler, put the bowl on a pan of simmering water on the stovetop, and heat it, stirring frequently, until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. If you’re using the microwave, be sure to stir the mix after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating, and stop once everything is melted together.

Now look, you’ve barely done any work and the Nutella’s almost finished. It’s magic! The final step is to add the warm chocolate mix to the bowl of the food processor that contains the liquefied hazelnuts.

Process the mix for 1-2 minutes more, until it smooths out, loses a little graininess, and gets shiny and smooth. The more you mix the stiffer the Nutella gets, so be sure to stop while it is still nice and spreadable.

If you’d like, you can taste it and add a pinch of salt or an extra squirt of honey to suit your taste. I’m usually too busy licking it off the spatula to make any final tweaks, though. Store your homemade Nutella in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one month.

I adapted this recipe from the Oh! Nuts Blog

Just incredible. Choreographed by Tyce Diorio, Danced by Sasha and Kent on SYTYCD.

loveeee these scary pieces. Choreographed by NappyTabs, Danced by Melanie and Twitch on SYTYCD.

Homemade Granola is the Best.

So I made my own granola the other day. And it’s awesome. I love it. Definitely something I’m going to make at home on a regular basis. I got this recipe from allrecipes.com but there are tons floating around :) 

Original Recipe Yield 5 cups

Ingredients

  • 4 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup sliced almonds
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 cup raw sunflower seeds
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
  2. In a large bowl, stir oats, nuts and sunflower kernels together. In a separate bowl, mix together oil, honey, vanilla and cinnamon. Add to dry ingredients; mix well. Spread mixture onto two ungreased baking sheets.
  3. Bake in preheated oven, for 10 minutes, remove from oven and stir. Return to oven and continue baking until golden, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely before storing.



Choreographer: Christopher Scott

Sasha and Twitch, season 8 So You Think You Can Dance. 

Love love love love love this. 

This is why they are my favorite couple. They are amazing. Choreographed by Dee Caspary.

wow. Travis Wall does it again. Amazing.

Men are like steel. When they lose their temper, they lose their worth.

Chuck Norris
so true. 

so true. 

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