Cherry Almond Granola Bars

          I recently went on a camping trip, which for me means two things: s'mores and granola bars.

           Granola bars are perfect for traveling and snacking, and their oaty flavor is kind of addicting.  I especially like the soft, chewy kind of granola bars since they don't leave a lot of crumbs.  I decided to try to make my own granola bars, and they turned out like a granola bar should turn out.

           I made chewy cherry almond granola bars.  Cherry and almond is another one of those classic flavor combos.  The tartness of the dried cherries paired well with the sweet honey and the almonds added a nice crunch to the chewy granola bar.

         The granola bars I made don't actually have granola, but use toasted oats instead.  To make the granola bars chewy, I added puffed brown rice, which I found in the "healthy" section of the grocery store.  You could use regular white crispy rice, too.  It's kind of like making rice krispy treats, expect you don't use marshmallows and butter, and you bake the granola bars.

First, you toast some old-fashioned oats.

You stir the oats with the puffed rice, almonds, and cherries.

Then you make a syrupy sort of thing with honey.  This is what holds the bars together.

Bring the syrup to a boil.

Stir into the oat mixture.

Press into a pan.

Bake until golden brown and let cool for a few hours.

Cut into pieces and you have granola bars!

            The granola bars had the right texture, I think, but they had a distinct honey-like flavor and didn't hold together that well.  I suggest that you be careful when storing them.  In the future, I'm definitely going to make more granola bars.  Enjoy!

Cherry Almond Granola Bars

recipe adapted from Can You Stay for Dinner

makes about 2 dozen granola bars

Ingredients

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup chopped or slivered almonds

1 cup puffed brown rice cereal, or white crispy rice

1 cup dried cherries 

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 cup honey

3 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13×9″ baking pan with foil and coat well with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Toss the oats on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.  Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
3. Transfer the oats to a large mixing bowl and stir in the almonds, puffed rice, and dried fruit.
4. Place the butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, almond extract, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Wet your fingers and press the mixture firmly and evenly into the pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 300 degrees F, until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.

Unforgettable Almond Cookies

Toasted ground almonds

I tried these cookies for the first time at my church, and yes, they were unforgettable.  I think that they were store-bought, but I had my heart set on recreating the almond flavor and the crisp texture.

Coincidentally, my mom had just roasted some almonds the night before, and I had ground almonds, left over from macarons I made a couple of weeks before, in the refrigerator.

So I had to make these cookies. Even if it meant procrastinating my homework.

Vanilla sugar

I adapted these from All Recipes, adding a bunch of things and changing amounts. If you're using almond meal, toast it for a couple of minutes at 350*F until fragrant.  Almond meal is a bit pricey and hard to find, so you can also toast almonds for about 6 minutes, then put them in a food processor or blender on "grind" until they are a fine powder (if you grind it for too long, it will turn into a paste.)

I used vanilla sugar, which is really easy to make if you have vanilla beans.  Use the seeds to bake something else and put the empty pod in a container with 1 cup of sugar.  Close the container and the sugar will be infused with vanilla flavor in a week or so.  If you don't have it on hand, you can use regular sugar and a bit of vanilla extract.

So anyways, these cookies are really easy to make, and the flavor is an almond-lover's dream.  It's a very unique cookie and a new favorite of mine.  It's soft on the inside and crisp on the outside.  It may even be better than the ones I had at church.

And they were really quick to make so I have plenty of time to do my homework!

Unforgettable Almond Cookies

makes about 20 cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup vanilla sugar (or regular sugar)

1 large egg

1-1/4 tsp almond extract

1 tsp orange zest

3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup toasted ground almonds

1 large egg white (2tbs) and one tbs water (to coat)

About 20 whole toasted almonds

Directions

Preheat oven to 400*F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add the egg, extract, and zest.  Mix until well combined.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, and salt.  Add to egg mixture and mix until incorporated.  Add ground almonds and mix until just combined.  

Roll a little less than a tablespoon of dough into a ball and place onto the sheet and repeat.  Press your thumb or the end of a wooden spoon into the dough. Then press one almond into each indent.  Whisk together the egg white and water and brush onto the dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes, until edges are golden brown.  Remove from the oven and let rest on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes until transferring the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.  Keep in an air-tight container.