chewy granola bars

[LauraA]

Well, my pan should be here soon, but due to the wisdom of frozenveg, I'll wait till I have more people around to eat these granola bars, or I'll make them to take with me when I go visit grandkids!

[patty]

Actually you can add zucchini. I am making some this morning, with zucchini, apple, pineapple, banana, cherries and oats. You can't really taste the zucchini but it works surprisingly. Zucchini and bananas blended together make a nice baked custard.

Aloha, patty

[Lilly]

lfwfv, thanks for sharing this recipe. I made the granola bars last Sunday, and I think they are delicious! I didn't have frozen berries and added a few dried cranberries instead along with the applesauce.

[patty]

Today I made up a batch. I didn't have any zucchini and used a acorn squash.. microwaved... not my favorite starch.. so it was a win win, and it turned out delicious. I used bananas, cherries, plus spices.

Aloha, patty

[veggie lover]

I noticed on the revised recipe on page 1 of this thread, it doesn't say frozen thawed bananas. It just says bananas. Should I go ahead and use frozen thawed bananas?

[lfwfv]

You can use fresh or thawed bananas...doesn't matter, as long as they are ripe. The thawed frozen ones blend very easily.

[nelliec]

Has anyone tried using this recipe to make a loaf, like a banana loaf? Would that be possible? What changes, additions, subtractions, etc., would have to be made to make such a thing workable?

Thanks,

NellieC

[lfwfv]

Not sure what you're wanting....just the recipe in a different shape? I'm sure you could put the batter into a loaf pan and just bake it a bit longer. It really is similar to a loaf texture in bar form anyway...

But if you are wanting more of a bread flavor, you'd need to use flour instead of rolled oats, add in some leavening agent like baking powder etc.. Why not just use a banana bread recipe at that point?

Here's a good one that uses whole foods from Chef AJ:
http://healthygirlskitchen.blogspot.com/2013/03/chef-ajs-just-banana-muffins-possibly.html

[nelliec]

[quote="lfwfv"]Not sure what you're wanting....just the recipe in a different shape? I'm sure you could put the batter into a loaf pan and just bake it a bit longer. It really is similar to a loaf texture in bar form anyway...

But if you are wanting more of a bread flavor, you'd need to use flour instead of rolled oats, add in some leavening agent like baking powder etc.. Why not just use a banana bread recipe at that point?[quote]

Sorry that I was sorta vague with my question. Actually, I guess what I wanted to know was if I could use the same recipe ingredients and put it in a loaf pan and be able to slice it like banana bread. I wanted to use all oats, no bread, 'cause I'm beginning to suspect that I may have a food allergy to wheat. Would I need to use, or even *should* I use baking powder or soda with just oats.

Lfwfb, thanks so much for coming up with this original recipe! It is amazing 'cause it's so easy and fail safe. I most use canned pineapple with the bananas now, but have added raisins, cranberries, other dried fruit, nuts, etc., at different times. Occasionally it comes out more cake-like, and sometimes more "bar" like. Who knows what I do different? But however it turns out, it's always delicious!

NellieC

[strivn2bhealthy]

Curious if anyone has tried cooking this recipe in a silicone brownie pan? My first thought was silicone muffin cups, but then I saw a bite-size brownie pan. Thought it might be possible to make bite-size snacks and freeze them. My daughter has been wanting something like this for a quick bite-size snack between/after dance classes. Thoughts?