I must admit upfront that the granola bars that I make originated from a
kitchen accident while making granola. Generally, the drying process must be
done at a lower temperature and the sticky-factor must be higher than in
regular granola. The recipe is as follows:
5 cups old-fashioned oats
2 cups grapenuts cereal
2 cups crisped rice cereal
1 cup raisins
1 cup cut up dried apples
1/2 cup dried dates
8 oz. apricot preserves
2 oz. orange marmalade
2/3 cup brown rice syrup, warmed
3/4 cup apple juice (I go heavy on the concen
trate)
2 tbspns vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon
1.5 tsp cardamom
Feel free to use other types of preserves - just adjust your spices to
complement the changes.
Mix dry ingredients and stir together preserves, marmalade, syrup, juice and
spices. Add to dry ingredients and press into a cookie sheet (may need two)
lightly sprayed with vegetable cooking spray. Press hard to compress well, I
actually use a rolling pin to mash it down well. Bake at 250 degrees until
hard, watch it carefully! If the sugar content is high enough, it may brown.
Turn the temperature down if necessary to dry it before browning occurs. I
have had it take 45 minutes. This is tried and true in my oven, but I still
watch it very closely.
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