On most days, I pin willy nilly to my pinterest boards, guided only by the visual sumptuousness of the images. One day I will embark on all the DIYs I’ve pinned, but for now, I am content with trying out a recipe or two a week.
The one that caught my eye this week is the cherry, pistachio & coconut breakfast bars, but I made quite a few modifications to my version. For starters, I didn’t use any cherries since I’ve overloaded on the fruit in Michigan so I’m avoiding them for the time being. I also omitted the toasted coconuts, mainly because I forgot to get some.
When I went to our local natural foods market to gather the less mainstream ingredients like brown rice puffed cereal, almond butter and brown rice syrup, I noticed a package of millet puffs which I’d never tried before and it seemed like a good fit for the recipe. They’re round and cute and puffy, what’s not to love?
And instead of using brown rice puffed cereal, which has a lot of corn syrup and maple syrup and such, I got plain puffed rice with no added sugar. My version includes golden raisins, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, raw whole almonds, cashews and pistachios.
The whole things came together easily and quickly, and I popped the pan into the fridge eager to cut them up and have a Martha moment with twine and parchment paper.
They look like yummy breakfast bars, don’t they? Sadly, I was too enthusiastic with the puffed elements, it seems, and the bars are rather…squishy. Not chewy, but squishy. Instead of hardening, the syrup mixture got absorbed into the puffs, resulting in sponginess.
They still taste delicious if you can get beyond the texture, and I like that the brown rice syrup adds a lighter sweet touch. The key is less puff and more nuts and dried fruits. Lesson learned. I would recommend that you follow the recipe ingredients ratio exactly as posted here, rather than trying the toss-’em-and-see-what-happens method I utilized. I love the way they look, though, so here’s another photo op:
Do you know of other good breakfast bar recipes?
I’m a sucker for great packaging, so despite the spongy texture, these look like a success to me! And a great idea for a grab-and-go breakfast.
I’ve had a couple of these for breakfast today, and I have to say they’re really great! Tasty, easy and a lot less spongy now!
Don’t necessarily *like* to eat healthy, but I *want* to healthy. These look beautiful and yummy. I love how you prettied them up too! Will have to try these.
They’re so easy, definitely worth a try Karen! And after a full day of sitting in an airtight container, the puffy parts aren’t quite as squishy so they are more like authentic breakfast bars!
i hear you on the soggy. i use brown rice rice krispies (obviously, they are not called rice krispies, but they look the same and you should be able to find the brown rice version at a natural foods store) for cereal bars and they stand up great to the brown rice syrup. my fave recipe: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/video-big-sur-power-bars-recipe.html
Ooh, that looks like a good recipe, thanks Ashley!
Oh the pistachios with cranberries look so pretty! (I also choose books by covers…) My favorite granola bars are these:
1 c. honey
1 c. nut butter (I like almond best!)
3 c. oats
1 1/2 c. add-ins (I like 1/2 c. toasted coconut flakes, 1/2 c. chopped almonds, and 1/2 c. chopped dried sour cherries)
Melt the honey and nut butter together, then mix everything in a big bowl. Line a 9×13 tray with parchment and squish the mixture into it with the back of a spoon. Bake 15-20 minutes at 350F. Cut into bars before completely cooled.
Oh, one more 🙂 Do you know those brand of bars called KIND? They’re outrageously expensive, so here’s a knock-off recipe for the almond-coconut ones:
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup flaked coconut
2 teaspoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons honey
Cook in a fry pan for a few minutes, then squish into bar shapes on a nonstick cookie sheet and refrigerate. If they stick, just warm the underside of the cookie sheet with warm water and they’ll pop out.
Oh these recipes sound delish! Thanks Liz!!