Well I’m having cravings for yummy baked goods tonight, and as I’ve been trying really hard to avoid making the cookies I REALLY want, so I decided to try making granola bars. It was an experiment in healthy.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp packed brown sugar Splenda
- 1/2 cup wheat germ
- 1/8 cup milled flax
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup craisins (optional)
- 1/2 cup peanuts (optional)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 egg beaters
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.
- In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar splenda, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, craisins, peanuts and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg beaters, apple sauce and vanilla. Mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Don’t allow the bars to cool totally before cutting, or they’ll be too hard to cut.
The verdict: So yeah…these were revolting. The lesson here is that you can’t take out all the fat. And using all whole wheat flour probably wasn’t the best idea either. I’d like to try some with peanut butter. Maybe if I used half oil and half applesauce and replaced half the honey with peanut butter? Or all the honey with honey roasted peanut butter perhaps. I’ll keep trying.