Month: June 2014 (Page 4 of 5)

Recipe for Tasty Granola Bars

June 9, 2014 / Dragonfly Home Recipes / 0 Comments

Tasty Granola Bars

Servings: approximately 12 bars, depending on size of bars
Time: approximately 30 minutes, plus one hour for the bars to cool
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Ingredients:

2 cups puffed-rice cereal (I used Special K)
2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish and set aside. In a large bowl, combine cereal, oats, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, and wheat germ. Set aside. In a saucepan, combine tahini, brown sugar, and honey. Cook over medium heat until bubbling, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Turn off the heat and add the vanilla, and stir until well blended. Pour the tahini mixture over the dry ingredients, and stir until the dry ingredients are coated with the moist ingredients and everything is combined. Transfer the mixture to the 9×13-inch baking dish. Press down firmly so the mixture is flat and evenly distributed in the baking dish. Let cool for at least one hour. Cut with a sharp knife into bars. Enjoy!

Granola Bars

June 9, 2014 / Dragonfly Home Recipes / 0 Comments

I made a batch of these granola bars for my family yesterday morning, and they are already more than halfway gone. We have been so busy the past couple of weeks, and we have been packing a lot of snacks to take with us to soccer games and family events. Granola bars are perfect snacks because they are healthy, provide energy, and are easy to transport. Of course I often buy granola bars at the grocery store, but they are not as healthy as homemade ones. The recipe I will post for these homemade granola bars is easy and full of good ingredients like old-fashioned oats, wheat germ, and tahini, and natural sweeteners like brown sugar and honey. The dried cranberries and sprinkling of chocolate chips add some appeal, especially for the kids. I personally like the tahini, which is made from sesame seeds, in the granola bars. It adds a richness, plus extra vitamins and protein. If you are not used to buying tahini (I wasn’t, until I started making my own hummus), you can find it at many grocery stores in the section near the peanut butter or in the Mediterranean food section. You can also be creative with homemade granola bars and mix and match ingredients. Switch the dried cranberries for dried cherries, or switch the chocolate chips with mini marshmallows. There are lots of granola bar recipes out there, but variety is a good thing, especially when feeding kids! The recipe I will post is both healthy and tasty.

Recipe for Double Pie Crust for Fruit Pie

June 4, 2014 / Dragonfly Home Recipes / 4 Comments

Double Pie Crust for Fruit Pie

Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
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Ingredients:

2 cups flour (I like to use 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 cups white flour, but you can also you 2 cups white flour. I don’t recommend using all whole wheat flour because the dough will be tough and fall apart easily).
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
2/3 cup canola oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. In a glass measuring cup, pour in the 1/3 cup milk, and then on top of that the 2/3 cup canola oil. Pour the milk/canola oil mixture into the flour/salt mixture. Combine with a fork or pastry cutter, just until the dough forms and holds together and the ingredients are completely combined. Separate the dough into two equal-sized balls. Spread wax paper on your rolling surface and lightly flour the wax paper. On the wax paper, flatten the first ball of dough with hands. Then roll the dough into a circle, from center to edges, till it is about 12 inches in diameter. Lightly flour the rolling pin, and wrap the pastry around the rolling pin. Unroll onto a 9-inch pie plate. Ease pastry into pie plate, being careful not to stretch it too much. Don’t worry if some of the dough tears–just patch it back together. It’s not about how perfect the pie looks, but how good it tastes! Trim pastry even with rim of pie plate. Pour desired fruit filling (recipe for rhubarb pie filling is in a separate post) into pastry-lined pie plate. For top crust, lightly re-flour the wax paper surface, and flatten and roll remaining dough ball until it’s about 12 inches in diameter. Lightly flour the rolling pin, wrap the dough around the rolling pin, and gently ease it on top of the fruit filling. Trim top crust 1/2 inch beyond the edge of the plate. Fold top crust under bottom crust, and flute the edges. Gently punch tiny holes in the top of the pie with a fork to allow steam to escape. Sprinkle the top of the pie lightly with sugar. Cover the edges with foil. Bake in a 375-degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove the foil. Bake for 18-20 minutes more, or until the top is golden. Let cool before slicing. Enjoy!