Make granola bars, that's what. And who better to help me than everyone's favorite TV chef, Alton Brown! (What? He is not your favorite? Well, he should be.) In the particular episode the granola bar recipe is from, Alton decides that he can make his own cheaper and healthier versions of the granola bar, power bar, and Rice Krispie treat. Curious as to just how easy granola bar making could be, I tried it out. And, I must say, pretty easy.
The directions are simple, the most complicated thing being toasting the oats, nuts and wheat germ (which really is not that complicated - if you can turn an oven on and stir every 5 minutes or so, you'll be fine). The step in the process that I learned was most hazardous to my health is smooshing the granola mixture into the pan. Toasty warm, honey infused granola mixture adhering to hands is not a pleasant experience. My solution is putting a bit of wax paper on top of the granola after it has been dumped in the pan to compact it all together. It is still warm on my hands, but it opts to stick to the nerve-free paper rather than my skin.
Since making this a few times, I have begun to experiment with it a little. Different fruits mainly. If you go for dried apricots, make sure to cut them pretty small. Dried cherries and cranberries have been my staples, with some random raisins thrown in. I don't think I adhere to the dried fruit quantities listed in the recipe - I just toss a bunch of dried fruit in until I think it has enough. This last go round I added a tablespoon or so of peanut butter to the honey mixture which gave the granola a great honey and peanut butter sandwich taste and smell. The peanut butter also made the granola chewier, which I prefer. My next experiments will be with chocolate can it go in the granola bar without melting all over) and using different nuts instead of almonds.
