PB Granola Bars

Moth used to make a granola bar that for us as kids, that we'd take hiking and on trips and to school and out to play and anywhere. They required no baking and lots of peanut butter and dried fruit. I couldn't find her recipe anywhere....

Here's one I found online.

Stir together:

1 c. peanut butter

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. corn syrup

1/3 c. butter

2 tsp vanilla

Add [really anything]:

3 1/3 c. oats

1 c. of dried fruit (we had pineapple, papaya, kiwi, canteloupe, strawberries, craisins and raisins)

1/2 c. chopped almonds

1/2 c. chocolate chips

This was freaking sticky and hard to deal with. Bake for 20ish minutes in a greased 13 x 9 inch pan, at 350 degrees. When they were done (and Bee and I were done snacking) I cut them up and wrapped them individually in seran wrap for easy packing...all I could think about was motorhome trips out West; Bratty Becky and the giggling and running about and coke-bottle rockets, group poem-writing and contests to see who could be quietest, and tests-of-true-sistership.

Rotten Banana House

I had one soft banana in the fridge, and it was almost dinner time, so I bounced cheerily into the kitchen. Mostly the cheer came from the fact that cooking is a most excellent form of procrastination, and there is a giant career fair at my school tomorrow, which involves dressing up in a business suit and being generally discontented all day long. Also my roommate Deag had been discussing the merits of making chili tonight, and the urge to try something new struck!

For this recipe, I scaled down a general muffin recipe and added banana and maple syrup and walnuts. I didn't have an egg, so I added a little more baking soda + milk + oil than was required. The consistency was pretty close to perfect, considering!

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup oats

2 tbsp (plus) sugar

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup (plus) milk

1 tbsp maple syrup

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 small mashed banana

1/4 cup walnuts

1. Mix dry ingredients.

2. Mix wet ingredients.

3. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients; add walnuts.

4. Spoon into greased muffin cups, and add more walnuts.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.

This made only four muffins (cooking for one ain't no fun)!