Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Happy Birthday to Me!

Posted by Laura at 8:40 PM 1 comments
Get out your hats & noisemakers people, it's my birthday!


I really only bring this up because I am excited to now be the proud owner of this KitchenAid Food Processor:

http://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/c/0/0/d/7/AAAADDd7m6QAAAAAAA1yog.jpg
(I got it in white, of course, to match my KitchenAid Stand Mixer.)

Ever since I saw the episode of Good Eats where Alton Brown makes peanut butter, I have been dying to get one. I set about researching food processors immediately, and I found this article at Consumer Search to be very helpful. I knew I wasn't in the market for a large capacity food processor, so I skipped straight to the compact models. Choosing the KitchenAid one was a no-brainer for me since, well, I already own and adore their Stand Mixer.

I am super excited to try it out and I think one of the first orders of business will be to make the peanut butter that inspired the purchase and that I've been drooling over for the last 2 1/2 months!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Chewy Granola Bars

Posted by Laura at 12:09 PM 1 comments
Hi, it's me.

With our overabundance of Girl Scout Cookies and Easter candy, I haven't been in my kitchen much lately. We're still recovering from our sugar high so, while I was eager to get back in the kitchen, I wasn't ready for another sweet treat. The solution?

Chewy Granola Bars.


Chewy Granola Bars

These granola bars are boasted to taste exactly like the Quaker Chewy Granola Bars, and I'll admit they were pretty close. The outside of mine turned out sticky-crunchy (I think that maybe had something to do with the honey?) with a chewy center. They were good, but not as chewy as I would have hoped. At any rate, I will definitely be trying these out again.

Note about Granola: The original recipe recommends this granola, which I had a really hard time finding. I’ve never bought granola before, but I eventually found it in the Organic Foods section at Rainbow.


Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Bars
(Source: Adapted from Rachel Ray)

4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 cups plain granola
1 cup rice cereal
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter chips


1. Combine honey and butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in brown sugar after butter starts to melt.

2. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat.

3. Add the granola and rice cereal into the saucepan and fold them into the sauce until evenly coated.

4. Spread the mixture into a 9×13 inch ungreased baking pan and press firmly with a spatula to evenly fill. Sprinkle the chocolate and peanut butter chips onto the top of the granola and gently press them down.

5. Put the pan in the refrigerator until cooled and firm, about 15 minutes, then cut into bars.

18 servings
 

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