This week, Les Petits Chefs worked with California Walnuts and Rosewood Estates Honey – two of the generous sponsors who helped me get to IFBC this past August.
I had a lovely jar of honey and a big old bag of walnuts needing to be used up and I figured that granola bars would be the perfect use for them, given how much the boys loved making simple granola a few weeks ago. I found a recipe I liked the look of on the California Walnut recipe site because it was so easy to customise, which the boys like to do.
There was not really much “cooking’ involved, perse – rather, a bit of chopping and a lot of measuring… (yup, Maths for Baking strikes again – I only have one set of measuring cups so when we are sharing them there’s a bit of mental math involved to calculate how many quarter cups equals 3 full cups)
Ahem. As you can see from the picture below, the boys went a little crazy on the chocolate chips. But it’s all good – with oats, cranberries, raisins, craisins, almonds, walnuts (one group was walnut-free to accommodate a dad’s allergy – we like to make sure parents can taste all the dishes going home), dried apricots, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, coconut and a bit of butter and honey, these are pretty darned healthy snacks.
Whilst they baked away in the oven, we cleaned up, discussed how we could customize the bars to suit different tastes (the boys had great ideas!!) and played a quick game of hangman. Then the boys waited (not so) patiently whilst they cooled enough to cut them. This was not successful and many of the boys didn’t exactly take home “bars”, rather, baked granola, but the ones I salvaged were easy to cut once they had cooled for about 30 minutes…
These were excellent. I am pretty picky when it comes to granola bars and don’t like most of the packaged ones. These, however, will be made again.
Ingredients
Makes 24 bars.
3 CUPS old fashioned rolled oats
1/4 CUP all purpose unbleached flour
1/3 CUPS packed light brown sugar
1 TSP baking soda
1 TSP cinnamon
1 CUP coarsely chopped California Walnuts
1/2 CUP dried cherries or cranberries
1/2 CUP chocolate chips
1/2 CUP pumpkin seeds
1/2 CUP shredded coconut
1/4 CUP sesame seeds
1/2 CUP dried apricots
1/2 CUP butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 CUP honey
Method
Pre-heat oven to 325°F (160°C).
In bowl, whisk together oats, brown sugar, flour, baking soda and cinnamon.
Stir in walnuts, cherries, chocolate chips, pumpkin seeds, coconut and sesame seeds; set aside.
In food processor, process apricots until broken up, about 1 minute.
Add butter, process until a paste forms, about 1 minute.
With motor running, pour in honey until well blended.
Fold into oat mixture until well combined.
Pat evenly and firmly into a parchment-lined 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33-cm) baking pan.
Bake in the centre of oven until golden, about 30 minutes.
Transfer to rack to cool completely.
Cut into bars (2×12 rows or 8×3 rows).
Perfect as they are, for breakfast of a snack, or you could even cut them into small pieces and serve them as holiday treats…
Did you see my entry for Project Food Blog Challenge 8 – Pumpkin, eight ways? If so, I would so appreciate your vote to advance to Challenge 9 where we have to review a restaurant. Voting runs from 6AM Pacific Time, Monday November 29th through 6PM Pacific Time on Thursday, December 2nd. Simply click here to vote (note: link no longer live). Thanks in advance for your continued support.
Is anyone else thinking this blog is missing one very important detail: what was Mlle Michels’ “hangman” word?!?!?
The boys played hangman and chose the words themselves…
I always bypass the packaged granola bars but this looks so delicious. And I always love reading about your Petite Chefs.
PS–I voted for your pumpkin 8 ways today…GOOD LUCK this round:)
Yes these will change your mind about granola bars forever!
I love that you run this club for the boys, and half the stuff they make looks better than most of my food styling! You can tell them I approve (and since I live in the same country as Jamie Oliver I clearly have great authority on this matter…)!
Jax x
They will most certainly appreciate that 🙂
That honey looks gorgeous. What lovely gifts these bars would make!
Yes they would make excellent cookie exchange gifts!
What a fun project! The best part: Les Petits Chefs made something delicious and healthy… Kudos to all!
Yes I always try to disguise healthy in a tasty dish!
I just love hearing about Les Petits Chefs! Those granola bars look and sound amazing. I love how the recipe includes pumpkin seeds and coconut, YUM! I will definitely be trying out the recipe. Thanks for much Mardi! 🙂
Yes it’s a great recipe but even better because you can change it up according to what you have on hand and what you like!
I don’t know why I never thought of making granola bars with my little baker. This is a fabulous idea. Thanks for sharing. I always love reading about Les Petits Chefs 🙂
They are the perfect recipe for little hands!
I don’t think the boys overdid the chocolate chips! I mean, can you ever have too many chocolate chips? LOL They did a super job on the bars and I thank you for posting the recipe. I happen to have a lot of California walnuts in my cupboard just waiting to be tossed into something wonderful.
I am so impressed with this recipe – so simple yet to tasty and pretty healthy to boot!
You know, we really aren’t granola eaters over here, not even in bar form, but you’re almost getting me to try this with that beautiful picture of the honey (with the light streaming through at the bottom — that’s what’s doing it). Oh, and the chocolate chips.
Carrie, I tell you that these bars will change your mind!
Nice recipe. I love granola bars. When I was 15 I used to eat about two for breakfast and one for a snack (couldn’t get enough). Making them from scratch might renew my passion.
Once you have tasted the from scratch version, you will never eat another store bought one again!
Big fan of your boys cooking class, this yummy granola bar looks just the thing for some quick energy.
I love that you can put whatever ingredients you like in these bars too!
What a lovely recipe, Mardi. I love all the posts you wrote about your petits chefs. So inspiring!
Thanks Ellie, I love working with Les Petits Chefs too!
Lovely and healthy granola. First time to this beautiful place, hope to come here more often for these lovely treats. Best wishes.
Every time I read a Petit Chefs post, I wish I could be a part of this group. Barring a few small issues, I think I’d make a spectacular member 🙂 I hate store bought granola bars so I’m definitely giving these a go!
Oh Azmina, you would be a terrific addition to the group! We would have so much fun! After making these, I wonder if they might be a regular part of my weekly baking!
Completely reminds me of childhood crunchy Uncle Tobys ones!
I know, I actually toyed with calling these “muesli bars’ since that’s what I grew up calling them. They’re more chewey than crunchy tho!
oooh…delicious!
Maths in a cooking class makes sense. Those bars looks nOMz!
Don’t you think? Way to make Maths more interesting….
Looks delicious. Nothing better than granola for a snack. Is it possible to go crazy with chocolate chips? 😉
Well, you should have seen how many choc chips the boys *wanted* to put in!
Those granola bars look scrumptious!! I am absolutely making them tomorrow – my daughter is so health conscience and will love them!!!
Thanks for the recipe – can’t wait to see your next one.
I love that you can customise them to personal tastes too!
Shop bought muesli bars can never compare to homemade ones – great to see the boys learning this for themselves! Also learning that even a game of hangman is sometimes not enough to distract you when you really really really want something to cool down enough so you can eat it.
Not even multiple games on multiple boards at the same time 😉
Yum! Great idea for Les Petits Chefs! I love making homemade granola bars, but I haven’t in a while. I’ll have to do that very soon 🙂
I can’t believe it’s so easy and I have never made them before!