Delicious Granola Bars

Mom (who my children know as "Oma") came to visit a while ago and made some granola bars for the children. They liked them so much they asked for some "Oma Bars" over March break. I found out mom had used the Crosby's Molasses recipe for "Peanut Butter and Molasses Granola Bars" and changed it a little. I did the same thing and here they are:

Here is the recipe that made them:

Peanut Butter and Molasses Granola Bars

Ingredients:

• 3 cups quick rolled oats
• 1 cup bran
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut
• 1 cup sunflower seeds or sesame seeds or a combination of the two
• ½ cup chocolate chips
• ¼ cup chopped nuts
• ¼ cup wheat germ
• ½ cup fancy molasses
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup peanut butter
• 1 tbsp 2% milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• ¾ tsp baking soda

Directions:

1. Mix oats, bran, coconut, seeds, chocolate chips, nuts and wheat germ together in large bowl. Set aside.
2. Combine molasses, oil, sugar and peanut butter in a 2 liter saucepan and cook over medium low heat until sugar dissolves and mixture is smooth. (Stir constantly.)
3. Combine the milk, vanilla and baking soda and add to the molasses mixture. Stir for one more minute. Remove from heat.
4. Pour molasses-milk mixture over granola mixture and stir until dry ingredients are moist. Wet your hands and press the mixture into a 15 x 10 inch (2L) pan.
5. Bake at 275°F (140°C) for 20 to 25 minutes. The edges will start to brown and the bars will be slightly puffy. They will sink as they cool.
6. Let cool, cut into slices (I cut it into 27 pieces).
7. Store in the refrigerator.

Carrot Date muffin Recipe

I've made these before, but I was asked for the recipe since I served them again yesterday. I'll post the original recipe and how I modified it.

The recipe comes from the Company's Coming Mostly Muffins book. Page 46. Here is their

Date Nut Carrot Muffin recipe
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

2 large eggs, fork beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk (or use 1 Tbsp lemon juice and enough milk to make 3/4 cup)
1/3 cup cooking oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 1/2 cups grated carrot

Measure first 8 ingredients into a large bowl. Stir. Make well in centre.
Combine next 6 ingredients in medium bowl. Add to well.
Add carrot. Stir until just moistened. Fill 12 greased or lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake in 375 degree oven for 20 to 22 minutes until wooden pick inserted in centre of muffin comes out clean. Let stand in pan for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool. Makes 12 muffins.

Now then, Keep reading to see my variant of the recipe.
Most noticeably, after typing in this recipe, I realize that I did not remember the brown sugar! Oops. I did think as I was mixing that there should be SOME sugar, so I put in 3 Tbsp of white sugar. Here's what I actually put in the muffins in the photo:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3 Tbsp. white sugar
1/2 cup home-made granola (oatmeal, sunflower seeds, whole wheat flour, honey, oil, sesame seeds, wheat germ)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/3 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
dash ground nutmeg

2 large eggs, fork beaten
1 Tbsp lemon juice and enough milk to make 3/4 cup soured milk
1/3 cup cooking oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chopped dates and raisins combined
1/4 cup fine coconut

1 1/2 cups grated carrot

I used the same method as above. They made very textured, moist muffins.

Five-Cup Slice Squares

These are tonight's addition to the squares I'll be serving as Easter dessert. I can't believe I've never made them before! They are from Company's Coming 150 Delicious Squares Cookbook (page 78).

They were super-easy to make. They were super-sticky and delicious! (As long as you like nuts and coconut). They remind me of a sweeter and chocolatey-er version of a Quaker Chewy Granola bar with Chocolate Chips. I baked them perhaps a little too long - the edge ones were a bit crispy, so next time I'll try them at 20 minutes, rather than 25 in my convection oven. I had lined my pan with tinfoil for easy removal of the squares. Well, they came out of the pan, but I had to pick tinfoil off the sticky bottom for 10 minutes! So I've added the note, "please GREASE pan EXTRA well, super sticky!" (I should have known; all that is in them is raisins, chocolate chips, peanuts, coconut and sweetened condensed milk).

Midnight Mints

These are probably my favorite squares. They are called Midnight Mints and they are the minty equivalent of the well-known Nanaimo Bar.

I love how mint and chocolate go together. Today I added a little more butter to the chocolate for the topping since it was looking a little too thick to spread - what a wonderful idea! It was totally spreadable and easier to cut than usual. I had frozen the bottom two layers for a few minutes before adding the chocolate top, which also helped spread the chocolate without getting the green mixing into it. I was very pleased with how these turned out. The ones in the photo are actually the "rejects" from the bunch that I froze for Easter dessert!

This recipe comes from the Company's Coming 150 Delicious Squares Cookbook again. It is on page 13. The crust is a hearty mixture of coconut, walnuts, graham cracker crumbs and cocoa, along with an egg, some butter and some sugar. It is not too time-consuming to make either, since the bottom gets cooked a little, but there is no baking involved. I'm sure my Easter company will love them!

What are your favorite squares? I'm planning to have a selection for Easter and all I can think of is chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate!

Orange Oatmeal Cake

When we moved to our new house, my aunt gave me a cook booklet called "Company's Coming coffee cake classics".  It has lots of enticing coffee cakes in it. I randomly opened it earlier this month to the first one for which I had all the ingredients and came to page 26 - Orange Oatmeal Cake.

It turned out nicely, but it's a good thing I checked on it early. I guess the convection was really working in my oven that day since I baked it 30 minutes, instead of 40 and it was done! The orange flavor was mild but tasty. The topping was separate and a bit fiddly and I think the walnuts would have been better in the cake than on it so I doubt I'll make this one again. I'll keep trying other recipes from this book, though.  They all look good!