Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Granola Bar Throwdown.

Mr. Hawthorne has been jonesin' for some homemade granola bars so yesterday he challenged me to granola bar throwdown.
This was his inspiration. As you may recall, Mr. Hawthorne is not much for a mise en place. And he gets frustrated when I tell him to wait so I can get a picture and as soon as I go to snap it he usually moves a hand so all I get is a blurred picture of the back of his hand. I'll try my best to document Mr. Hawthorne's efforts but remember, he doesn't allow do-overs.
Handful of almonds.
He scissored up a handful of cranberries.
He crushed a handful of cashews and peanuts. Now I just noticed something in this picture I didn't see when I was shooting it. I believe Mr. Hawthorne's frustration with me is showing.
A handful of coconut.
A handful of raisins, which he's scissoring into the mix. He kept pinching his hand with the scissors. And it only took him 10 minutes to get into the raisin carton.
About a tablespoon each of dark corn syrup and honey and a handful of peanut butter chips.
Possibly 1 1/2 cups of oatmeal. Apparently, Mr. Hawthorne is of the "measurements are for sissies" school.
He spread his mixture onto the toaster oven tray. No spoons or mixing utensils, save for his hands, were used.
And it's ready for the toaster oven - 350 degrees until browned.
And here's his granola.
Rosie's ingredients: 2 cups oatmeal 1 cup almonds 1 cup coconut 2/3 cup honey 1/2 cup dried cranberries 1/2 cup dried cherries 1/2 cup raisins pinch of salt
First I spread the oatmeal, coconut, and almonds on a baking sheet and browned it in a 350 degree oven.
Here's my 1 1/2 cups of dried fruits, 2/3 cups of honey, the vanilla, and I decided to use 1/4 cup of brown sugar and 4 TB of melted butter.
Toasted almonds, coconut, oatmeal. Brown sugar went in.
Dried fruits went in.
Honey went in.
Butter and vanilla.
Mix well.
Pour into a buttered 7 x 11 baking dish.
I used a sheet of plastic wrap to press my mixture evenly in the pan.
I baked it in a 300 degree oven for 30-35 minutes, until nicely browned.
Mr. Hawthorne's on the left. Rosie's on the right. Taste test. His was thinner and crispier and I especially liked the addition of the peanut butter chips. Mine was thicker and chewier. Both were quite good. And both were similar in flavor.
Rosie's on the left. Mr. Hawthorne's on the right.
Granola is one of those things, like potato chips, that's very hard to stop eating. I'll be making these again, with variations on the theme.

1 comment:

Debbie said...

Oh that looks so delicious. What a great snack!