Sunday marked the culmination of months and months of hard work and discipline for Mara and me (and Mara’s husband). For about four months we have been running and cross training in preparation of our third marathon. Sunday was the big day. We hit the roads of St. Louis (with about 17,000 other people) to compete in the Go! St. Louis Marathon. There were a couple of reasons this race was such an exciting occasion. First Mara and I were running to help raise money for Young Life, a non-denominational Christian organization reaching out to middle school and high school students. This organization has had a significant impact on both of us since our high school days and it was an honor to support it. Second, four of our girlfriends were inspired to train and run in the St. Louis Half-Marathon, which took place at the same time. So Shared Sugar and running friends made the trip to St. Louis with our entourage of support.
In preparation for the event, I whipped up some granola bars for the weekend. These granola bars have a little bit of everything in them but my personal favorites are the shredded coconut, dried cherries and pecans. I am not a huge fan of coconut but I have found that I really enjoy unsweetened coconut. It has a very natural taste and tends to know its place in dishes and doesn’t try to steal the show, unlike the sweetened counterpart. Recently I have been captivated by dried red tart cherries that I buy at the local natural food market. These cherries are large and delicious. I can eat them by the hand full. And then of course, I love pecans. I will put them in anything and they always do their pecanish thing, just as they did in these bars. Two other great things about this recipe: wheat germ and roasted cocoa nibs; both bounding with nutritional benefits.
I like these granola bars a lot. They are sweet but not too rich for breakfast (at least not for me) and they make a really nice snack during the day. They also have a good consistency of crunchy but still a bit chewy (as long as you don’t over-bake them). And you can easily substitute various nuts and dried fruit to your preference.
The weekend was win-win. Everyone enjoyed the bars AND everyone finished the race. It was a beautiful way to kick-off spring and enjoy the fruits of hard work. Cheers to Michelle, Kristen, Lindsay T., Lindsay W., Mara and Mike, toasting to many more races in exchange for many more desserts!
Cherry-Berry Pecan Granola Bars
- adapted from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics
makes 12 bars
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Ingredients
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped if large
- 1/2 cup dried blueberries
- 3/4 cup roasted cocoa nibs
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Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9×13-inch baking pan. Then line it with parchment paper and butter the parchment paper.
Combine the oats, pecans and coconut and spread evenly on a cookie sheet. Toast (mix once during toasting) until lightly browned, about 7-8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and mix-in the wheat germ, cardamom and cinnamon.
Reduce heat in the oven to 300 degrees F.
In a small saucepan, combine butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla and salt. Over medium heat, bring to a boil. Upon boiling, cook for one minute. Pour the heated mixture over the oat mixture. Add the cherries, blueberries and cocoa nibs. Mix until the dry ingredients are well coated.
Pour the mixture into the pan and spread evenly in the pan. Use the back of a wooden spoon or wet your fingers and press the mixture firmly into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until lightly browned. Don’t overcook or the bars will be too hard. Cool for 2 to 3 hours. Cut into squares. Store in an airtight container.
14 Comments
yay for running! yay for desserts!
Granola bars make a great snack. I love the combo. of pecans and cherries. Congrats on the run! A 3rd marathon is a great accomplishment!
Congrats on the marathon! What an amazing experience. I hope to complete one very soon…
Congrats on the marathon! I just finished my 3rd as well, and can attest to how great these granola bars are on race day. Your photos are ridiculously beautiful
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Congrats on the marathon! Those granola bars look delicious.
Congrats on the marathon! The bars look and sound amazing! Perfect for this summer when it gets too hot to get an appetite in the morning here.
I have been looking for a good granola bar recipe. I can’t wait to try this wknd! Congrats on finishing the marathon, my good friend is running Boston this Mon and it is such an amazing accomplishment!
My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!
I’m out of parchment paper but am going to live dangerously and go try these anyway. It’s my observation that Ina owns stock in parchment paper and likes to call for it willy-nilly in any and all recipes.
Stacy, good luck going sans parchment. I had trouble getting the sides loose on another batch I made. If it doesn’t work, just crumble them up and eat as cereal. BTW, the first Ina cookbook I saw was at your house. Thanks to those cookbooks sitting on your bookshelf in your kitchen, I can’t get enough of her.
I second the cereal suggestion. Mine also crumbled sans parchment paper, but I didn’t mind at all when I found out how amazing these are broken up and drenched in cold milk! Makes me want to sprinkle all granola with Askinosie cocoa nibs . . .
nice post. thanks.
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[...] Cherry-Berry Pecan Granola Bars [...]
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Erin. Erin said: Two great recipes, @sharedsugar Cherry-Berry Pecan Granola Bars http://bit.ly/azmVf6 and @ItalianDish Potato Pizza http://bit.ly/cZ4ZTw [...]
[...] Blueberries IV Posted on August 29, 2010 by Megan The dramatic (not really) end to my blueberry saga, comes in the form of granola bars using the blueberries dehydrated in Part III. Making your own granola bars is not difficult, plus you have a say as to what goes in your snack food (seriously, have you read a granola label recently?). This recipe is adapted from Shared Sugar. [...]