Cereal bars, granola bars, snack bars – whatever you call them they are a versatile and delicious snack. August 12th, 2013 is National Toasted Almond Bar Day. Celebrate by spending some time with your kids making this yummy and healthy snack. This recipe takes a little more time and planning but it is something you can do as a family. Divide the parts between you and your kids. You handle the parts that require a knife and heating on the stove and allow the kids to do the rest. This is a great lesson to teach safety in the kitchen. This original recipe–found via yummly.com–adds up to 12 servings. [photo via yummly]
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/3 cup butter (chunky almond)
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 cups cereal (puffed brown rice)
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds (toasted and chopped)
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
Directions
- Line an 8×8 pan with parchment or wax paper and set aside. In a small sauté pan toast the almonds. Allow to cool slightly and roughly chop.
- Place the cereal, almonds and dried cranberries in a large bowl, being sure that cranberries are not all clumped together. Set aside.
- In the pan you used to toast the almonds melt together the butter and almond butter, stirring frequently. Remove from heat, add the honey and stir until fully incorporated. Pour the mixture over the cereal and stir to evenly coat.
- Press the cereal mixture into the parchment lined pan. Scatter the top with chocolate chips and lightly press them into the sticky cereal mixture. Place the pan in the freezer for 20 minutes to set.
- Remove pan from the freezer, use the parchment paper to lift the contents out and slice into individual bars. Store in the refrigerator in an air tight container between sheets of waxed paper.
Of course, this kind of recipe makes for some serious versatility. Instead of using cranberries, for exampe, use raisins–or omit them all together. If you do not want chocolate included in this particular snack,try drizzlin the top with honey. We doubt that your kids will be shy about telling you what they’re looking to have on their Almond Bar–so have a Happy National Toasted Almond Bar Day!
