Monday, March 1, 2010

RECIPE: Breakfast Energy Bars

This week at I Blame My Mother, we're working on a recipe by Michael Chiarello for FNCCC.  He's typically the Napa Valley Italian chef.  His recipes are wonderful when the tomatoes and other fresh vegetables are in season.  It's still cold here in Georgia and vegetables have a few more months before they are at their peak.  So I decided to make Michael's Energy Bars.  I don't like a strong molasses flavor and didn't have some of the ingredients he called for in the recipe, but according to the comments, I didn't need to worry.  And they were right.  They turned out really good.  They are very much like a breakfast bar, so that's what I called it.

Breakfast Energy Bars
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup pecans
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup butter, room temperature + more to butter dish
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Place oats, almonds and pecans on baking sheet.  Toast in oven for 10 minutes.  Set aside.  Turn oven to 325 degrees F.  Place raisins, cranberries, oats and nuts in the food processor.  Pulse about 10 times until coarsely chopped.  Set aside.  

In a bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, honey, vanilla and egg until light and fluffy.  

In a separate bowl, combine both flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add to the butter mixture.  

Then pour in the milk and mix thoroughly.  Add oats mixture and mix again.  

Butter a 13x9 pan and pour batter and spread evenly.  

Bake for about 30 minutes, until set and slightly golden brown.  Cool in pan.  

Cut into 18 bars 1" x 4".  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze.  

These are delicious for a breakfast treat.  They are not like granola bars.  They are more cakey, but not quite like a muffin.

Complete directions (no pictures):
Breakfast Energy Bars
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup pecans
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup butter, room temperature + more to butter dish
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Place oats, almonds and pecans on baking sheet.  Toast in oven for 10 minutes.  Set aside.  Turn oven to 325 degrees F.  Place raisins, cranberries, oats and nuts in the food processor.  Pulse about 10 times until coarsely chopped.  Set aside.  
In a bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, honey, vanilla and egg until light and fluffy.  
In a separate bowl, combine both flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add to the butter mixture.  Then pour in the milk and mix thoroughly.  Add oats mixture and mix again. 
Butter a 13x9 pan and pour batter and spread evenly.  

Bake for about 30 minutes, until set and slightly golden brown.  Cool in pan. 
Cut into 18 bars 1" x 4".  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze. 


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11 comments:

Susie said...

Those look really good!!

Jenna @ Newlyweds said...

I think I am going to make these also, talk about last minute, huh. They look delicious and I know my boys will love them.

Brenda said...

These look yummy and easy.

Unknown said...

These look fabulous!! I'll be making these for my teens....I know they will love them :)

Blessings!
Gail

Campos Family said...

These look great! I'm going to make these so my husband can have something to take to work and snack on in between meals! Thank you for sharing!!

annies home said...

these sound great

Unknown said...

Awesome!! I am always on the look out for new homemade breakfast items. :)

Sarah said...

I need to make these to have in the freezer...kids are getting sick of all the muffins. I love that you can pretty much use whatever you have on hand. Good to know they turned out well. Thanks for cooking with FNCCC~

Trippy Momma said...

These sound really good. I love homemade energy bars for the morning, but most of them are more granola-like (which I'm not that big on). These will be perfect! Thanks for sharing!

http://is-it-naptime-yet.blogspot.com

Allie Z said...

These look ohhhh so yummy!!

Would you consider posting your complete recipe after the post? Iwant to print this out but there's a lot of photos... :)

Allie

Sarah @ Mum In Bloom said...

Thank you for sharing this great recipe. I can't wait to make it for lunch boxes and for my mother-in-law as an easy snack. She loves those processed bars (bleck!). Thanks for the inspiration :)

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