Granola Bars

Mr. Smith and I headed out of town this past weekend to celebrate our friend M's birthday in Martha's Vineyard. Since we have been doing this mid-winter get-away for a few years now, I knew that we were going to need as much nourishment as possible to survive the weekend full of deep belly laughs and full glasses. Low and behold, Smitten Kitchen was whipping up a batch of granola bars that I thought will fit the bill just right. Full of delicious dried fruits and nuts, there are tons of ways to make these your own. I also encourage you to click over since she's got lots of great tips on making these bars just right!



Granola Bars
From: Smitten Kitchen, Adapted from King Arthur Flour
1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats
3/4 cup granulated vanilla sugar
1/3 cup oats, processed till finely ground in a food processor
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 to 3 cups dried fruits and nuts (I used 1 cup dried cranberries, 1 cup chopped walnuts, 1/3 cup sesame seeds, 2/3 cup chopped dried apricots)
1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon water

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8″ x 8″ x 2″ pan in one direction with parchment paper, allowing it to go up the opposing sides. Lightly grease the parchment paper and the exposed pan with a non-stick spray.

Stir together all the dry ingredients, including the fruit and nuts. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, melted butter, maple syrup, peanut butter and water. Toss the wet ingredients with the dry until the mixture is evenly crumbly. Spread in the prepared pan, pressing them in firmly to ensure they are molded to the shape of the pan.

Bake the bars for 30 to 40 minutes, until they’re brown around the edges — don’t be afraid to get a little color on the tops too. They’ll still seem soft and almost under baked when you press into the center of the pan but do not worry, they’ll set completely once completely cool.

Cool the bars in their pan completely on a cooling rack. (Alternately, after about 20 minutes you can use your parchment “sling” to lift and remove the bars, and place them in their paper on the rack to cool the rest of the way. This can speed the process up.)

Once cool, a serrated knife to cut the bars into squares. If bars seem crumbly, chill the pan of them further in the fridge for 30 minutes which will fully set the “glue”, then cut them cold. To store, wrap the bars individually in plastic or stack them in an airtight container. In humid weather, it’s best to store bars in the refrigerator. They also freeze well.