Granola Bars from Scratch

I bought Blue Agave at Costco and you can buy it at Trader Joe's as well.

This is the granola recipe I posted last week. I really like it over my vanilla yogurt in the morning. I will make this about once a week to have for breakfast.

Granola Bars

Recipe:
Here is a basic recipe for granola and granola bars that you can modify to your taste. If you want more fiber and protein and less sweet, use with more nuts and seeds and little or no fruit. If you want a sweeter granola, add more dried fruits and fewer nuts and even more sweetener to taste. This recipe has no added fat and can be fat-free if nuts are omitted.

Some tips:

If you want loose granola, spread the mixture out on a cookie sheet and stir every 5 minutes or so.
If you want granola bars, pack the mixture into a loaf pan and cut into bars as soon as you remove the pan from the oven.
BE SURE TO LINE THE PAN WITH PARCHMENT PAPER--GRANOLA WILL STICK TO THE PAN.
Dry sweeteners will make a crunchier granola; liquid sweeteners make a softer granola bar.
One egg white gives more crunch but doesn't hold together as well; two egg whites hold together fine, but makes a softer bar.
If you find that the dried fruit burns, make the granola without the fruit and mix it in after the granola is baked.

For my test recipe I used rolled oats, almonds, raisins, blue agave, cinnamon and vanilla, in the proportions given in the recipe, plus two egg white. It was delicious.

1 cup grains
1/2 cup nuts and seeds
1/4 cup dried fruits (or more nuts)
1 tablespoon sweetener
1/4 teaspoon spices
1/4 teaspoon flavoring
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 or 2 egg whites, beaten until foamy


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all of the ingredients together except for the egg whites.
Whisk the egg whites until foamy or even until soft peaks form--the more volume you have the better you will be able to distribute the egg white through the other ingredients.
Mix the beaten egg whites with the dry ingredients until well incorporated.
FOR GRANOLA: Spread the mixture out on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
FOR BARS: Press the mixture into a parchment-lined loaf pan.
Bake for 20-30 minutes. Stir the granola about every 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool. Cut granola bars to desired size and shape.



I found THIS website that has lots of recipes using substitute sweetners.