Author Notes
A breeze to whip up when you fancy, this granola packs a punch with nutritious ingredients like oats, cranberry and nuts. Make it a day before your road-trip or on a random boring afternoon and store it in an air-tight container for a quick snack post a grueling gym session or on the go! —Vaishnavi Kandhadai
Ingredients
- For the Granola Bar
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four cups
Quick-cooking oats like Quakers
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quarter cups
Maple syrup or honey
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quarter cups
Lightly-packed brown sugar
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half cup
Slivered almonds or any nut you fancy
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half cup
Dried cranberries
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half teaspoon
Ground cinnamon
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two tablespoons
Cold water
- Coffee-infused Chocolate Layer
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half cup
Semi-sweet chocolate chips (like Ghirardelli)
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one teaspoon
Pure vanilla extract
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one teaspoon
Instant coffee granules
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one teaspoon
Salt
Directions
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Pre-heat oven to 375 °F (190°C). Spread out three cups of oats on one sheet and the rest and the nuts on another.
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Make sure the nuts and the oats don’t mix. Toast both the trays in the oven for 15 minutes, tossing them twice in the middle.
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While waiting for it to toast, mix maple syrup, brown sugar and cinnamon in a huge bowl.
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Once the trays are out of the oven, take the one cup of oats you toasted with the nuts and grind it into a coarse meal. The oatmeal gives the granola bars a nice chewy texture.
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Mix the oats with the mixture in the bowl, add the oatmeal, the nuts and the cranberries. If it ends up too thick, add the water to it. You now have the base for the granola.
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Take a foil-lined rectangular cake tin and pour the mixture into it. Press it in tight and bake in the oven for thirty minutes. When done, pull the foil out and let the granola sheet cool down.
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While the bars are cooling, make the chocolate layer: Mix the chocolate chips, vanilla extract, salt and coffee granules in a microwave safe bowl. Heat it for 30 seconds. Bring it out, stir it and repeat it a couple of times more.
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Once the granola sheet has cooled, cut it into bars (or whatever shape you fancy) and dip it into the chocolate glaze.
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Transfer chocolate side up on to a baking sheet and cool till the glaze has set. When done, wrap in wax-paper.
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These bars will keep well outside for a week in a tightly-lidded jar, up to a month in the fridge and it will also freeze well.
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