Gettin' Crunchy

If you ask Flick, I have a little streak of hippie in me :)  Over the years I have lost my hemp necklaces, it's been awhile since I've seen Phish live, and I actually own skinny jeans.  This doesn't mean that my wiring has changed though.  Fortunately, living in Boulder makes my "hippie tendencies" seem a bit more mainstream.  We live in a place where the town picks up garbage, recycling, and compost, we have a garden full of veggies, do yoga, hike, camp, and ride our bikes everywhere without anyone so much as batting an eye.  They even charge you 5 cents if you have to use plastic grocery bags at the grocery store!  I think these things are pretty darn normal, but I also have been living in "the bubble" for about 8 years now.   

I did do something this weekend that really tapped into my crunchy side - I made my own granola bars.  Yikes, pass the petrulli oil.

The thing is, they are REALLY delicious and not at all hard to make.  I got the recipe recommendation from one of my coworkers, made a few tweaks, and voila, energy packed little snack-lets that Flick and I have been crushing all weekend.  We didn't have as many pecans as the recipe calls for so I added more sliced almonds.  Also, you can take-or-leave the coconut - I added them and like the slight coconut flavor.  I hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

Peanut Butter Granola Bars
recipe adapted from Emeril

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup honey
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cups sliced almonds
1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans
1/4 cup hulled green pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup grated coconut
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and lightly grease an 8x8 baking dish (you can use a larger dish for thinner bars).

Melt butter with 1/4 cup honey in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut, cinnamon and salt.  Mix well.  Pour the butter/honey mixture over the oat mix and toss to coat well (lets now call this, granola). Spread the granola mixture in a thin layer on a baking sheet (jelly roll pan works great).  Bake for 20 minutes, stirring about every 5 minutes to ensure even toasting.  The mix will stay soft, no need to bake for longer than 20 minutes.

Cool the granola in the pan and add raisins. Place granola in a large bowl.

Meanwhile, combine the brown sugar, 1/2 cup honey and peanut butter in a small saucepan over medium high heat.  Stir constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture starts to boil/bubble.  Pour the sugar/honey/peanut butter mix over the granola in the bowl and mix WELL.  It is a little unwieldy to work but make sure to get all the granola mixed in (even the stuff on the bottom) - any "dry" granola won't stick in the bars.

Press the granola mix into the greased pan and allow to cool.  Cut into bars of whatever size you choose and when cool, store in an air-tight container at room temperature (for up to a week).  To freeze, wrap individual bars in plastic wrap and put in a freezer bag.