Sometimes I surprise myself
I don’t really like to create my own recipes.
I would much rather follow someone else’s directions. I prefer for them to do the hard work. Test and retest until they find the perfect recipe to share with the world.
Better you than me, my friend.
But every so often I surprise myself.
On Sunday , Keith wanted granola bars to go with our 9 hour football watching marathon. I looked at us and surveyed the situation. We were both in PJ’s, glasses and personally I am not even sure I had brushed my teeth that morning.
Don’t judge!
Neither of us were going anywhere to buy granola bars.
So I looked around in my pantry desperately for something [anything] that I could haphazardly throw together in hopes that it could loosely resemble a granola bar.
Out of my pantry I pulled: oats, chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, walnuts, nonfat evaporated milk and almond butter.
Totally doable. no?
I melted, stirred, mixed, pressed and baked. And viola, 30minutes later we had granola bars. I grandly presented my creation to Keith and he said I’ll try one later.
Humpf.
Well I will eat his, mine and yours. They’re good people. They’re good.
Raid-The-Pantry Granola Bars
3 cups oats
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup chopped walnut pieces
1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup almond butter
1 cup nonfat evaporated milk
Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.
Over medium heat melt almond butter and evaporated milk together. Stirring constantly until liquid. Pour into oats mixture and mix quickly [this will be like making rice crispie treats] it will be tough but keep stirring until everything is well coated.
Then press into a greased 9 x 13 glass a pan. Make sure you evenly spread and press the granola mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting or else bars will totally fall apart.
Makes 15 bars.
Eventually Keith came to his senses because it’s Tuesday and I had one bar on Sunday remember? One.
Any guesses on how many we have left?
For all of you who mentally guessed zero you would be right. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Zero as in none are left.
The lesson here?
When my man wants a granola bar he really means he wants 14 of them.
What Kelly Said 
hahaha your husband’s comment made me laugh so hard. Andy says “I’ll try one later” all the time. Otherwise he’ll say “Wow, that looks so good!” and I’ll ask if he wants a bite, and he’ll always say “no.” Strange?!?!
Nice. I am the same way – I prefer for someone else to make the recipe but sometimes I do come up with something. I am also the same way in that I will eat them all in one day.
Good work! I love it when those pantry-raid recipes turn out to be a success. These look (and sound) delicious.
love homemade granola bars. they are the best kind!
Hahahaha this is a great recipe story and I love the name for your bars. I’ll have to try making them soon!
We love granola bars in our house! Lee is exactly the same way…I make something and I barely even get to taste it because it’s gone by the next day!
The only thing I DO like about it is that it is major portion control! I can’t eat something that isn’t there! ha!
You crack me up! I love when you tell stories about Keith and his eating. 🙂 Looks yummy and I bet Trent would even eat them!!
Oh he is off the hook. If I didn’t love him so much I would hate him and his hulk-like metabolism! Grrrr!
I love when that happens, especially when it’s a last minute creation. You feel like such a pimp in the kitchen, don’t you?
My homemade granola bars always seem to fall apart– I need to try your recipe!!
I think the trick is letting them cool completely. Whenever I try to cut them while they are even still warm they break but if I wait until they are really cool then they cut better.
Sounds like a great recipe! I enjoy throwing things together and hoping for the best. Sometimes it works well, and other times I have to discard what I made…oops! 😉
And there are many times on the weekends I go all day without showering, brushing my teeth or my hair…no judgment here! 🙂
I’m definitely more on following recipes too. When I don’t, I rarely get such good surprises. Although i can tweak and mix things a pretty good bit, but I always need something to go off. I can’t just whip up a mix in my head.
These look REALLY good!
Well cleary you did a good job of making them! ha ha…
Sometimes my sweet tooth takes over and I’ll raid the pantry, but rarely does it lead to unplanned baking- I’m too impatient for it!
sent you some blog love at my place 🙂
Im totally making those bars!!
I can’t ‘make up’ recipes when baking is involved. I wing it on soups/stir-fries/sauces, but when it comes to baking I follow the recipe pretty religiously. Good for you being creative! Keith is a lucky man.