Friday, January 27, 2012

Grab and Go Granola Bars


Makes 12 snack servings

Like most moms, I’m always busy, on the run, and looking for some healthy grab-and go snacks for my kids.

I always try to arrive at after school pick up armed with something yummy and healthy, whether it is nuts, fruit, a sandwich, or a homemade super-food cookie. I try to have something that will nourish and satisfy my children, always on the lookout for new healthy products. I am the type of woman who is engrossed by the aisles in health food stores the way other women are captivated by Tiffany’s. I simply love discovering new foods and products.
So I was thrilled, when the folks at Kraft Foods contacted me to review a new health food bar that has no preservatives, artificial flavors, or colors. What I found really intriguing was that the bar is made with real milk and is found in the refrigerated dairy aisle. They also provided a gift card to conduct a taste test against some other granola bars.

Since I agreed to the terms, my kids, and their friends tried the bars. I put them up against Lara Bars and Gnu foods – my personal favorites. There was a tie between the gnu bars and the MilkBite bars from Kraft. While I am still a hard-core fan of Gnu and Lara bars as my go-to snack bars, I found these bars to be quite interesting. I loved that MilkBites had oats and chicory fiber, while leaving out preservatives. I will continue to make my own granola bars, but my kids really enjoyed these as a treat.

Ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup pecans or other nuts, coarsely chopped
½ cup unsweetened flaked coconut
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup maple syrup
4-tablespoon liquid coconut oil
1 cup dried fruit (blueberries, goji berries, apricots, raisins or any other unsulphured choice)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. In a very large bowl, combine oats, nuts, coconut, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
3. In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the syrup and oil together.
4. Pour liquid over dry mixture and stir thoroughly to combine. I think using your hands works best, but a spoon also works.
5. Dump mixture onto two rimmed baking sheets, spreading out the granola evenly.
6. Bake for 25 to 40 minutes, stirring mixture every ten minutes. Remove granola when it is light brown, as it does continue to cook after being taken from the oven. If you wait until the granola is dark, it will have a bitter, burned taste.
7. Enjoy!

11 comments:

  1. Dawn,
    Thanks as always for this great recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the post. I can totally relate. I am also always on the look out for new grab and go snacks.

    Sally

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi I am so glad I found your webpage, I really found you by error,
    while I was searching on Yahoo for something else, Regardless I am here
    now and would just like to say thanks a lot for a
    tremendous post and a all round exciting blog (I also
    love the theme/design), I don't have time to read through it all at the minute but I have saved it and also added your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up the great work.

    Also visit my weblog: wiki.leaninglab.org

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very nice post. I simply stumbled upon your weblog and wished to mention that I have really enjoyed browsing your weblog posts.
    After all I will be subscribing for your rss feed and I hope you write once more soon!


    Here is my blog post binoa

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi there would you mind letting me know which
    hosting company you're using? I've loaded your blog in 3 completely different browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot quicker
    then most. Can you recommend a good internet hosting provider at a fair price?
    Cheers, I appreciate it!

    Feel free to surf to my page Buy Elevate GF

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your way of telling the whole thing in this post is truly pleasant,
    all be able to effortlessly understand it, Thanks a lot.

    Feel free to visit my blog :: Pure White Kidney X

    ReplyDelete
  7. Heya i'm for the first time here. I found this board and I find It really useful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to give something back and help others like you aided me.

    my web-site - Dead Sea Kit Moisturizing Cream

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your style is so unique in comparison to other people I've read stuff from. Many thanks for posting when you've got
    the opportunity, Guess I will just bookmark this site.


    Also visit my page ... Nuvo Cleanse

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nice blog here! Also your website loads up very fast! What
    host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host?
    I wish my web site loaded up as quickly as yours lol

    Feel free to visit my web blog; Buy Raspberry ketone Plus

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am not in a position to view this website correctly on saffari I think there is a problem

    Feel free to surf to my site - why am i not getting pregnant

    ReplyDelete
  11. I do not know if it's just me or if everyone else experiencing problems with your blog. It seems like some of the written text on your content are running off the screen. Can someone else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them as well? This could be a issue with my web browser because I've had this happen previously.
    Appreciate it

    Feel free to surf to my webpage: Natural Cleanse

    ReplyDelete