Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Tuesday's With Dorie-Granola Grabbers with Homemade Maple-Pecan Peach Granola

It has been a long weekend- lots of cake baking and ice cream making. That being said, yes, I waited until the very last moment to make these cookies. I wanted to use homemade granola because I think some other kinds can be too sweet and I like knowing what exactly is in my granola. Someone posted a link to an easy, basic granola recipe from Cooking Light, so I thought I would try it. I had some peach nectar sitting on the counter from a cake I made this weekend and instead of letting it go to waste, I decided it had to go into the granola somehow. I ended up doubling the granola, reducing the oil, adding peach nectar, wheat germ and flaxseed meal, but you aren't really here for the granola? Are you? Well, if you are, it was a hit. And it tasted great in these cookies. I think I am making more granola tomorrow. I still have a little peach nectar left in that can.Now, onto this little cookie. Or should I say, onto this large bar cookie. I used golden raisins, but only put half of them in and added mini m&m baking bits for the rest of the raisins. Everything else was pretty much as called for in the recipe, but I made it into bars. I just couldn't bring myself to make out all the little cookies today. And, I wanted to make sure they were chewy.

I patted the cookie dough into a 9x13-inch pan that had a large piece of parchment fit into it- it was pretty thick, all pressed down in that pan. I reduced the oven temp to 350 and just keep an eye on em, I lost track of the exact time, but I knew when they looked done. It was probably around 35 or 40 minutes. They were perfect. Golden on top, chewy in the middle, and I got to cut them into large bars, which means we ate 1 and didn't have to feel bad, because we were full! I really liked this recipe and so did everyone else over here. It seemed more like a trail mix cookie by the time I got done with it, but whatever you want to call it- It was good!

This recipe was chosen by Michelle of Bad Girl Baking, so go to her blog to get the recipe and don't forget to check out the TWD Blogroll to see everyone else's Granola
Grabbers!

Maple-Pecan Peach Granola heavily adapted from a basic recipe from Cooking Light
4 cups regular oats
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1 cup pecan and walnut pieces
1 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup peach nectar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
Preheat oven to 300°.
Combine oats and all ingredients in a large bowl. Spread on a large jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 300° for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool completely.
Note: Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

26 comments:

Shelby said...

Your version looks great! I love Cooking Light also!

Lori said...

so the granola in the cookies had the peach nectar in it? what an amazing idea.....

Sarah said...

yum! and i like the bar idea...great job!

Steph said...

I like your bar idea. I probably would have enjoyed these better as bars than cookies considering how mine turned out.

Engineer Baker said...

I bet those bars were quite a bit chewier than my cookies were - nice change!

Prudy said...

Ooh, that granola sounds so good. I'm going to have to make a version with a little less oil. I can ususally make it lighter with OJ but didn't want to do it for the cookies. The bars look so yummy. I was just looking at your book list from your profile and I love all of your picks. Now I want to come and eat cookies and read novels together.

Melissa said...

Those bars look really delicious! I think I see M-n-M's in yours - I put some in mine as well!

Christine said...

I love Cooking Light! Your cookies look delicious!

chocolatechic said...

These look super.

I imagine the peaches made them really pop.

CB said...

Mmmm cookie bars. I'll have to try out that CL granola recipe! Thanks for posting it. Great job!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought

Teanna DiMicco said...

Oh man that maple-pecan homemade granola sounds SO GOOD! With peach nectar? Are you serious? Nice!

The Food Librarian said...

Yum! I love bar cookies. These look amazing!

Maria said...

Love the easy bar idea! And your peach cake is amazing!

Katie said...

Yum! This is the first time I have seen the granola grabbers in a pan-cookie form. I like pan cookies - good idea :)

I love your blog!

Eleganza Strings/ The DeLadurantey Family said...

They look so good!

Jacque said...

Mmmm, peach nectar... sound heavenly!

Glad to hear they work as a bar cookies. They're so much easier than drop cookies.

Rebecca of "Ezra Pound Cake" said...

This sounds and looks delicious!

Anne said...

They look fabulous! Great job!

PheMom said...

Great job!! I am loving the sound of your granola recipe - thanks for sharing!

Jenny said...

Your version looks fantastic. How can one go wrong with cookies and granola!?

Pamela said...

I saw that recipe for the ganola, too. It sounds so good, I think I'm going to try it! The cookies look great. I made bars, too. I thought that they were absolutely addictive.

Marie Rayner said...

Oh my goodness, your bars turned out wonderful!!! I was sorely tempted to make bars with mine instead of cookies. Yours look great! Well done!

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

Love the M&M's in them!

Rigby said...

Your granola sounds amazing! And I love the idea of baking them in bars!

Madam Chow said...

Wow - that granola sounds marvelous!

Jules Someone said...

Mmmmm. It all sounds yummy!