Chocolate-Dipped Granola Bars

One of my favorite ‘foodies’ to follow is The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond.  She does a blog, TV show, cookbooks and other fun to read books and writings. And she promotes ranch life! What a good combination, she knows where food comes from and celebrates it.  A couple of Saturdays ago, son Clint was home and I had the TV show Pioneer Woman on. In spite of being involved in ‘work’, it must have caught his attention, because when I mentioned my idea to make granola bars he asked, “those dipped in chocolate?”

Yes, these did turn out to be some of the best granola bars I’ve tasted, this recipe could even make you stop buying the prepackaged breakfast or snack bars from the store. But remember, that even though they are full of healthy ingredients and are good for you, they are also rather high in calories. Two words – portion control. This can be assisted by wrapping these yummy bars individually and securing with freezer tape. Or perhaps by putting them in the freezer (and don’t tell anyone else).  At any rate, a good snack or healthy dessert.

Chocolate-Dipped Granola Bars

6 cups rolled oats (not quick oats)

4 tablespoons butter, melted

¼ cups canola oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup honey

¼ cup apple juice

¼ cup molasses

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups Rice Krispies

1 cup wheat germ

½ cup finely chopped pecans

¼ cup roughly chopped almonds

8 oz milk chocolate or chocolate almond bark

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, toss oats with canola oil, melted butter and salt. Spread this mixture on 2 (or 1 large) baking sheets and toast in oven for 15 – 20 minutes, stirring twice to make sure it doesn’t burn. Remove from oven and set aside.

Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees. In a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, honey, apple juice and molasses. Heat the mixture slowly, stirring until all is combined. Stir in vanilla.

Toss together the toasted oats. Rice cereal, wheat germ, pecans and almonds. Pour in sugar mixture, stirring as you pour. Toss to combine; it will be sticky.

Press into a baking sheet (thoroughly greased with butter, or lined with greased foil) and bake until golden, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Cut into pieces (about 16) with a sharp knife and remove from pan.

Melt chocolate or almond bark and dip cooled granola bars straight into the melted chocolate so only the bottom is chocolate-covered. Set on parchment until set, or cool in refrigerator to set the chocolate quicker. 

Cheddar Jalapeno Pretzels

One of my activities to continue to be involved in education and food, is to work with the Kansas Wheat Commission as a Wheat Spokesperson. Spokespersons represent the Wheat Commission (www. kswheat.com) across Kansas by doing demonstrations, programs, and recipe testing.  A couple of weeks ago I worked at their booth at the State Fair, sharing information and recipes about wheat. Wheat is one of the main crops in Kansas, with Kansas producing more wheat than any other state on an average year. Usually Kansas produces 1/5 of the wheat grown in the U.S. Being a Kansan, wheat is part of our heritage. I grew up on a farm, and wheat harvest was a special time of year. Now, we have some wheat fields, and harvest always brings back memories.

 In alternating years, the KWC sponsors the National Festival of Breads (www.americasbreadbasket.com) and selects several top winning recipes for awards. Besides those receiving awards, there are many other very good recipes submitted, so this year’s KWC Recipe Book features some of those recipes.

This recipe for pretzels seemed easier than ones I’d remembered trying before – this one doesn’t require boiling the dough in a pan of water. You do need to dip the shaped pretzels in a hot baking soda-water bath. This helps create a browner, crisper crust. The results were good, however not too pretty. I need to work on my pretzel shaping! 

Cheddar Jalapeno Pretzels

3 ¾ - 4 cups bread flour, divided

1 package (1/4 oz) fast-rising yeast

1 ½ cups very warm water (120-130 degrees)

1 tablespoon honey

4 – 6 tablespoons finely chopped pickled jalapenos

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

¼ cup baking soda

2 cups boiling water

1 tablespoon melted butter, optional

1.     In mixer bowl, combine 2 cups flour and yeast. Stir in water until thoroughly combined. Add honey, jalapenos, salt and cheese. Gradually add enough of the remaining flour until a soft dough forms. Knead dough by hand or with dough hook 8 to 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic.

2.     Place dough in oiled bowl turning to coat. Cover with damp towel; let rise until double, about 1 hour. Punch down dough; divide into 12 equal portions; cover with damp towel.

3.     In a shallow glass bowl, measure baking soda. Boil 2 cups water. Pour boiling water over baking soda; stir until soda is completely dissolved. Set aside.

4.     Grease or line with parchment paper two 13 x 18-inch baking sheets. Roll dough portions into 2 to 2 ½ foot lengths about ¼ to ½ inch in diameter (about the size of a pencil). Twist into pretzels by making a circle, bringing ends together, twisting twice and pressing ends onto bottom curve of circle.

5.     Dip pretzels into baking soda water; place 6 pretzels per baking sheet. Let rise 15 to 20 minutes.

6.     Bake in preheated 450 degree oven 8 – 9 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to wire rack. If desired, lightly brush pretzel with melted butter.

Variation: Omit step 3 (soda and water mixture); shape the dough in pretzels, let rise 15-20 minutes and bake.

Makes 12 pretzels (208 calories each)

I was a little concerned about using the chopped pickled jalapenos, as we usually don’t like ‘hot’ spicy peppers, so I only used 4 tablespoons peppers. But the flavor was very mild. In fact, if I make these for my Texas son-in-law, I’ll have to increase those to a half-cup or so! 

Broccoli Salad

Although it’s Fall, the weather feels like summer yet. And it is hard to think of cooking soups, casseroles, and other fall-hearty dishes that the magazines show. For tonight’s supper it’s grilled hamburgers, potatoes and Broccoli Salad.

A friend at a recent church circle shared this Broccoli Salad and I took it to a meeting last week as well. It makes a good covered dish to take, or to stay home.

Broccoli Salad

In a small bowl, mix the dressing and set aside:

1 cup Miracle Whip type salad dressing

3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon sugar

In a large bowl, toss together:

4 cups broccoli crowns cut into bite size

¼ cup diced red onion

½ cup crumbled bacon

½ cup shredded cheese

½ cup sunflower seeds

½ cup dried cranberries

Stir dressing into broccoli mixture. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

The red wine vinegar and sugar give a sweet-sour tangy taste to the salad. 

An Apple a Day

The old saying "an apple a day keeps the doctor away", still has meaning. Apples are a healthy and tasty food which are rich in nutrients including vitamins, antioxidants and fiber. The medieval English saying "Eat an apple before going to bed - make the doctor beg for his bread" recognized apples as preventative medicine. This month is a good time to remember that as we celebrate National Apple Month - actually 3 months - September, October, and November.
The magazines are full of apple ideas and recipes, and I found several I wanted to try. This cookie recipe has been a hit at church board meeting, a friends visit, and the home cookie jar. I adapted the recipe from Taste of the South magazine. The original was very crumbly. My version is a bit less fragile, but because of the amount of brown sugar it does draw moisture in this humid weather (rain at last!), and crumble. I tried keeping them in the freezer to reduce this, it must have worked, because all the cookies disappeared from the freezer container leaving no crumbs!

Apple Butterscotch Oat Cookies
2/3 cup all-vegetable shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (or half AP, half whole wheat)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon apple pie spice
1 1/2 cups chopped cooking apple, such as Braeburn
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine shortening, butter, and brown sugar; beat at medium speed with a heavy-duty mixer until fluffy. Add egg, beating until combined. Add vinegar and baking soda. Gradually add flour, salt, and apple pie spice, beating until blended. Add oats, chopped apple, butterscotch chips and walnuts, mixing until blended. (dough will be stiff)
Using a cookie scoop, scoop about 3 tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, placing cookies 2 inches apart so dough can spread.
Bake cookies about 12-13 minutes until edges are golden brown and centers are set. Remove from oven and let cook on baking sheet about 5 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack.