No Sugar Granola Bars

I've mentioned a time or twenty that my son is a picky eater. Selective, they say in some circles. One food that he is usually willing to eat is granola bars. His absolute favorite are iced oatmeal cookie-flavored Clif Zbars, but when I get my act together (wait...that never actually happens), we love to make homemade granola bars together.

Some of our favorites are these No Bake Granola Bars. They are crazy good, but I wanted to come up with a version that had less sugar. I was having a hard time getting my new bars to stick together, so I turned to you, friends, for help! Thanks to your comments and suggestions on Facebook, we came up with a winning recipe.

Dates add sweetness, stickiness, and a hearty helping of fiber. Peanut butter contributes protein and more holding power so these bars don't crumble. Oatmeal means you'll be full all the way to lunch time. Ground flaxseed boosts the healthy omega-3 fatty acids. I did include mini chocolate chips on top, but this is an optional ingredient. There's no way my kid will touch a granola bar without chocolate chips, so it's a non-negotiable in my house. With mostly healthy ingredients, a little bit of chocolate can't hurt, right?

One thing I do know: when it comes to granola bars, crowd sourcing for the win!

Let's get cooking!
Erin

No Sugar Granola Bars

25 pitted dates
2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

Pulse all ingredients except chocolate chips in a food processor until combined. Press evenly into a foil-lined 8" square pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and press them into the bars. Refrigerate 1 hour before removing the foil and slicing into bars. Store granola bars in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie Bars

The husband loves golf. So you can imagine his glee when the Masters Golf Tournament comes around every spring. He dreams about making a pilgrimage to Augusta to watch his favorite athletes compete, but that wasn't in the cards this year. Instead we decided to host a little Masters viewing party for his family.

We noshed on deviled eggs and sipped Arnold Palmers while the husband and his brothers tended the grill. And for dessert, we enjoyed decadent Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars.

With a salty-sweet shortbread crust, gooey filling, rich chocolate chips, and crunchy pecans, these dessert bars have something for everyone. Serve them with ice cream if you really want to gild the lily. And I love a gilded lily.

Let's get cooking!
Erin

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie Bars
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen

Crust:
2 cups flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pecans, toasted
1-2 teaspoons salt*
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
12 tablespoons cold butter, cut in 1/2" pieces

Filling:
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup corn syrup
8 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3 1/2 cups pecans, chopped coarse
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9" x 13" baking dish with aluminum foil. (The shiny side of the foil should be touching the pan with the non-shiny side up.) Set pan aside.

First, make the crust. Add flour, brown sugar, pecans, salt, and baking powder to your food processor. Pulse a few times until mixture is combined. Add cold butter and process until it's incorporated into a sandy texture. Press into an even layer in the prepared pan. Bake until crust is fragrant and beginning to brown, 17-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling. In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, vanilla, and salt. Whisk in eggs until everything is combined. Spread over warm crust. Alternately sprinkle pecans and chocolate chips over filling. Bake until filling is golden and set in the middle, about 35 minutes. Allow to cool completely before slicing and serving.

*I used 2 teaspoons of salt, and you could definitely taste it. We enjoyed the salty-sweet combo, but if that isn't your thing, cut the salt back to 1 teaspoon.

Pecan-Crusted Chicken Breasts

Fried chicken is all the rage. But the New Year is still fresh. My resolve should last at least a few weeks before I need to start frying things.

So today, we're baking our chicken. Low-fat boneless, skinless chicken breasts are healthy, but—let's be honest—they can be a little boring. Not so when you bake them with a crisp crust of pecans and drizzle them with a flavorful honey mustard sauce.

Let's get cooking!
Erin

Pecan-Crusted Chicken Breasts with Curried Honey Mustard Sauce
Adapted from Everyday Food Fresh Flavor Fast
Serves: 4

Pecan-Crusted Chicken:
3/4 cup pecans
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts

Curried Honey Mustard Sauce:
3 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons apricot preserves
1/8 teaspoon curry powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pecans on a baking sheet and toast for 5 minutes, just until they are very lightly toasted. Remove pecans from the oven and increase the temperature to 475 degrees. Finely chop pecans.

In a wide, shallow bowl combine chopped pecans and breadcrumbs. Beat eggs in a second shallow bowl. Season pecans and eggs generously with salt and pepper.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean up. Grease foil with a light drizzle of olive oil or a mist of cooking spray.

Dip chicken breast in eggs and allow excess to drip off. Dredge in pecan mixture, pressing to help the pecans adhere. Place on prepared baking sheet and repeat with remaining chicken. Drizzle chicken with olive oil. (Or if you have one of those handy olive oil misters, you could mist the chicken with oil.) Bake for 10-15 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Allow chicken to rest for 5 minutes.

While the chicken rests, stir together ingredients for Curried Honey Mustard Sauce. Serve chicken with sauce.

Apple Crisp

A trip to the apple orchard here in Central Illinois is one of my family's fall traditions. It gives us a chance to go out into open country and appreciate nature a little more.

My boys and any friends who come along love running down the rows of apple trees and seeing who can pick the fruit highest up the tree. The kids usually eat their weight in apples before we're done filling up our bags — it's all part of the experience. 

We pick more apples than we need. At home, we make at least one apple pie before we switch over to apple crisp.

This year, Jonathan and Golden Delicious apples were ready when we went picking. I've never used either in baking and am surprised at how well these apples melt down while keeping some firmness.

When it comes to making the crisp topping, I'm not a purist. With this dessert, I added some shredded coconut and chopped nuts, just because I had a small amount of each taking up space in the pantry. When you're mixing things up with brown sugar, cinnamon and butter, it's bound to taste delicious.

Mangia! Mangia!

Andrea

Apple Crisp

4 cups apples, peeled and sliced (A mixture works best. Add a Granny Smith for tartness.)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup flour (white or whole wheat)
1/8 cup to 1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/8 cup to 1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger or ground cloves
1/2 cup butter, softened

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8 x 8 inch baking pan with butter or cooking spray. Place apples in pan to evenly cover the bottom. (If you double the recipe, use a 9 x 13 inch pan.)

In a medium bowl, mix brown sugar, oats, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger (or cloves.) Place butter in bowl. Using a pastry cutter or two butter knives, blend butter into dry ingredients until crumbs form.

Generously sprinkle crisp topping over apples to cover. (You might have some topping left over. Save it in the fridge or freezer to use on oatmeal.)

Place on the middle rack in your oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the topping is browned and the apples are bubbly.

Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

My boys Max and Sam and their friend John goof around after picking apples.

Triple Almond Chocolate Banana Pudding

As you all know, I'm on the hunt for healthy snacks to feed my boys. We need tidbits packed with protein, energy that lasts — and just enough sweetness to make them appealing.

After I shared my popcorn marshmallow bars, the fine folks at Nuts.com invited me to try using almond flour. I love an excuse to get to work in the kitchen and boy, was I pleasantly surprised. I'm a newbie at using gluten-free flours. Almond flour works just like all-purpose white and whole wheat flours and is high in protein and vitamin E.

I'm trying to clean up our diets in general, so I'm thrilled that my kids liked this no-sugar chocolate dessert.  The sweetness comes from extremely ripe bananas. For even more fun, you can make the consistency closer to ice cream by using frozen bananas.

And I definitely suggest eating this power pudding for breakfast! Such a nutty way to start the day. (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Triple Almond Chocolate Banana Pudding
Inspired by Williams Sonoma and The Sprouted Kitchen

2 overripe bananas (fresh or frozen or some of each)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cups almond butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of sea salt
1/3 cup almond milk, divided
1/4 cup almond flour
Optional: for extra sweetness, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of maple syrup or honey

Place bananas, cocoa powder, almond butter, cinnamon and salt in a blender or food processor. Add about 1/8 cup almond milk. Blend until everything is mixed together but not yet smooth. Use a rubber spatula to scrap down the sides of blender or food processor.

Add almond flour and another 1/8 cup almond milk. Blend until smooth, adding more splashes of almond milk as needed to smooth out texture. (Adding the almond flour at the end prevents clumping in the bottom of the blender.)

Transfer to four small bowls. Enjoy immediately, especially if you used frozen bananas.

If you used fresh bananas, this pudding tastes great chilled. Cover bowls with plastic wrap and pop in the fridge for an hour or more. You can make this pudding ahead. It holds up well in the refrigerator for about three days.

Sprinkle with banana slices and nuts, like sliced toasted almonds or chopped pecans. My Sam says it's even better with whipped cream on top.

Curry Spiced Pecans

Halloween is over, and Christmas has officially taken over Target. That's my signal to get ready for holiday fun.

Before the busyness overwhelms us, let's whip up a batch of Curry Spiced Pecans, and we'll be ready for whatever life brings. Appetizer for girls' night? Done. Crunchy snack for the football game? Done. Make-ahead hors d'oeuvre for Thanksgiving. Done. Thoughtful hostess gift? Oh, now you've outdone yourself.

Curry Spiced Pecans
Adapted from these Spiced Nuts

1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound pecans (about 4 cups)
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg white, water, and salt until frothy. Add pecans and stir until coated. Drain pecans in a colander for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine sugar, curry powder, paprika, and cumin. Toss spices with the drained pecans and evenly divide them between prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 50 minutes, until the pecans are dry and crisp. A couple times throughout baking, stir the pecans and rotate the baking sheets so they cook evenly. Allow pecans to cool completely on the baking sheets, about 30 minutes. Break up the nuts and serve. Pecans can be stored in an airtight container for several weeks.

P.S. Here's an idea for you. I didn't use cayenne in today's recipe, but I bet these pecans would be delicious with 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne added with the other spices. Let me know if you give it a try!