Help with finessing homemade granola bar recipe?

CollisionofNova

I was sitting on my behind, watching a commercial about granola bars. You know, the ones with the marshmallows and chocolate chips and no nutritional value that are completely delicious?

I flounced off to the kitchen to try and make something similar that had at least 5 grams of protein as well as some nutrients. What I came up with was good (uh, lick the bowl kind of good), but I feel like it's not quite right. I could use some advice on how to tweak it a little. I'd like to to have fewer calories and even more nutrition, if possible.

Recipe:
Makes 4 bars

4 tablespoons each of natural peanut butter and maple syrup
4 teaspoons of blackstrap molasses
80 grams puffed wheat cereal (plain, unsweetened)
1 tsp cinnamon

I melted everything together in a double boiler and mixed in the cereal until it was coated. Then I smushed it flat into a square baking dish and let it harden.

According to MFP, each bar is 227 calories, 7g protein, 8% of my daily calcium and 15% of my daily iron.

Help?

CollisionofNova

Bump

Does anybody have any ideas? :frown:

jlhill7

Oatmeal, Nuts, raisins

holbrook23

I used this recipe for my kids and it is AMAZING! http://weelicious.com/2011/09/06/chocolate-chip-granola-bars/

MinkyMoo13

Your already about 10 steps ahead of me. I've been looking for some low cal granola as i love IT!! I currently have the Quaker oats granola.. as for making some i wouldn't know where to start sorry.. Have you extensively googled it?

thelovelyLIZ

I highly recommend adding some oats or nuts in there, and possibly baking it in the oven.

I actually have a pintrest board dedicated to granola bars here. I haven't tried any of these recipes, but they look good:
http://pinterest.com/thelovelyliz/smoothies-protein-shakes-and-granola-bars-oh-my/

I have a few I have tried on this board though, and I highly recommend them!
http://pinterest.com/thelovelyliz/these-recipes-are-winners/

juliep1974

Maybe you could add a little protein powder too (I think the suggestions for oats are a really good idea too).

cbrewer904

BUMP

lin7604

I used this recipe for my kids and it is AMAZING! http://weelicious.com/2011/09/06/chocolate-chip-granola-bars/

and if the recipe actually makes 30 bars like it says they are only 115 cal a piece

sammys1girly

bump

CollisionofNova

Yay! These suggestions are awesome!

I was thinking of adding oats, but I wasn't sure how they could work being uncooked. I'm trying to avoid baking them so they become way less work. Maybe I can toast the oats seperately and throw them in after they've cooled.

I'm not going to add nuts because they are so calorie high. Maybe ground sesame or flax seeds would be good though, high in calcium and fiber. Hmmm...

CollisionofNova

I used this recipe for my kids and it is AMAZING! http://weelicious.com/2011/09/06/chocolate-chip-granola-bars/

I LOVE how this looks!

I highly recommend adding some oats or nuts in there, and possibly baking it in the oven.

I actually have a pintrest board dedicated to granola bars here. I haven't tried any of these recipes, but they look good:
http://pinterest.com/thelovelyliz/smoothies-protein-shakes-and-granola-bars-oh-my/

I have a few I have tried on this board though, and I highly recommend them!
http://pinterest.com/thelovelyliz/these-recipes-are-winners/

Thanks for the links! I think I'll frankenstein together the ideas here and from those recipes!

justzoot

How about:

Nonfat dry milk for extra protein & calcium?

Drained applesauce in place of some/all the molasses or maple syrup (depending on which flavor you want to keep)?

Oats for texture

Cocoa powder for chocolateyness

Maybe some vanilla extract