Aileen Rosales

Healthy & Delicious Granola Bars

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Here’s the easiest and tastiest Granola bar recipe you’ll ever make. The best part is that you can add in anything you want in them! But I must warn you, they are pretty addicting. Good thing they’re healthy. 😉

Side Notes: If you do not have some of the ingredients listed, feel free to swap it out for something else. For example, you don’t have to use almonds if you don’t like almonds. Use macadamias, peanuts, sunflower seeds, etc. Instead of coconut sugar, use brown sugar. No chocolate chips, no problem. Just used chopped up dried fruit like raisins, craisins, apricots. Also, I love coconut oil but if you are not a fan, use Canola oil. It’s very mild in flavor. My only advice is to follow the measurements for whatever ingredient you choose to swap.

If you can’t seem to find an ingredient, go to Trader Joe’s! That’s where I went for coconut oil, coconut sugar, almonds, & flaxseed meal.

Make it into your own and use what you like. Let me know what you guys think. Enjoy!

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Yield: I made ~12 bars using a 8×8 pan

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups old fashion oats
  • 1/2 cup dry roasted almonds
  • 1/2 cup ground flaxseed meal
  • 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 tablespoon cacao nibs (optional)
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted OR Canola oil
  • 1/2 cup agave nectar OR honey
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tablespoon almond butter
  • Parchment paper
  • 8×8 (or 9×9) baking pan

Directions
Preheat oven to 325F. Prep your pan by overlapping your parchment paper like this.

Using a baking sheet, evenly spread the oats and bake for 10-12 minutes (or until lightly browned). Once they are cooled, pour them into a large mixing bowl. Add in the nuts, ground flaxseed meal, salt, and chocolate chips (or dried fruit).

In a small bowl, whisk the oil, agave nectar (or honey), almond butter and sugar. Pour the wet mixture onto the oats and mix until everything is well combined.

Pour the mixture into the baking pan. Using a spatula or your hands, press mixture down into an even layer.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. Allow granola mixture to cool for about 2 hours before cutting into bars. Store bars in an airtight container.

Quick, Simple, & Easy Granola recipe

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Homemade granola

Say goodbye to store bought granola! Here is my favorite and inexpensive granola recipe. Did I also mention it’s healthy? Feel free to add in any dried fruits, nuts, or seeds. I’d love to hear what you come up with!

Enjoy! 🙂

Ingredients for granola

Baked granolaMake sure to line your baking sheet with parchment paper. I forgot so as a result some of my granola stuck to the sheet.

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups old fashion oats
  • 1/3 cup choice of sweetener (maple syrup, agave nectar, honey, etc.)
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • Handful of chopped dry roasted almonds (or whatever nut you prefer)
  • 1 Tbs chia seeds, optional
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325. In a large bowl, add oats, nuts, chia seeds, & cinnamon and mix well. Combine coconut oil and sweetener. Add to bowl and stir until everything is coated evenly. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Evenly spread out granola mixture onto baking pan. Bake for 15 mins or until golden brown. (Best way is tell if granola is done is by the fragrant test. If you smell it, take it out of the oven). Let mixture cool for a few minutes. Store in an airtight container up to a week.

Pinterest find: NY Style Crumb Cake!

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I love pinterest. I have pinned so many recipes on my food board that it’s ridiculous. Everything just looks too stinkin’ good! I hope I’ll get to chance to make them all. 😉 I have only gotten the chance to make a couple things and so far, everything turned out amazing and delish!

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I wanted to share this NY style crumb cake recipe I happened to stumble upon because it looked too delicious not to share! Normally, when I pin recipes to my board, I usually think, “yeah…I’ll make this…someday.” But when I saw the crumb cake, I just knew I had to make it sometime during the week. And guess what? I did!

I’m so glad I made this cake because personally, I feel that it tastes as if you bought it from a little coffee shop or cafe. It’s that good. The cake is moist, fluffy, and it just tastes amazing. As I quote from Smells-Like-Home, “loads of big crumbs with a fresh and soft yellow cake underneath is what has driven people crazy for years and I’m thrilled to say that I’ve found a recipe that meets my high expectations.” I couldn’t agree more.

And what’s left to say is, thank goodness for pinterest! You never know what you might find…or in this case, pin. 😛

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New York-Style Crumb Cake
source: Cook’s Illustrated May 2007

Make sure you use cake flour for this recipe – all-purpose flour will yield a dry and tough cake. A few people have commented that their crumbs have sunken into the cake – the key to keeping the crumbs on top is to gently lay them out on top of the batter – do not push them down. This recipe yields an 8×8-inch crumb cake but you can easily double the recipe using a 9×13-inch pan.

Ingredients:

For the Crumb Topping:
1/3 cup granulated sugar (2 2/3 ounces)
1/3 cup dark brown sugar (2 2/3 ounces)
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), melted and still warm
1 3/4 cups cake flour (7 ounces)

For the Cake:
1 1/4 cups cake flour (5 ounces)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick), cut into 6 pieces, softened but still cool
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup buttermilk
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Directions:

To make the topping: Whisk sugars, cinnamon, salt, and butter in medium bowl to combine. Add flour and stir with rubber spatula or wooden spoon until mixture resembles thick, cohesive dough; set aside to cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
To make the cake: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Cut 16-inch length parchment paper or aluminum foil and fold lengthwise to 7-inch width. Spray 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and fit parchment into dish, pushing it into corners and up sides; allow excess to overhang edges of dish.
In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt on low speed to combine. With mixer running at low speed, add butter one piece at a time; continue beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no visible butter chunks remaining, 1 to 2 minutes. Add egg, yolk, vanilla, and buttermilk; beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping once if necessary.
Transfer batter to baking pan; using rubber spatula, spread batter into even layer. Break apart crumb topping into large pea-sized pieces between your thumb, pointer, and middle fingers and spread in even layer over batter, beginning with edges and then working toward center. Bake until crumbs are golden and wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on wire rack at least 30 minutes. Remove cake from pan by lifting parchment overhang. Dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.