Peanut Butter Granola Bars

I’m so glad peanut butter isn’t what it used to be. The kind I used to eat is still available – you know the stuff – with added sugar, salt and oil and sometimes a bunch of other stuff that has no business being in food – but thankfully, so is the unadulterated kind that consists simply of ground peanuts in a jar.

The downside to using “peanuts only” natural peanut butter, is that it requires refrigeration. And lots of stirring. And no matter how furiously I mix it, I always seem to end up with a blob of rock hard peanut butter at the bottom of the jar.

And because no one has the energy in the morning to take a chisel to it, to pry some loose for a piece of toast, the jar sits in the fridge with just a little bit left.

Is anyone else bothered when a new jar of something is opened before the last dregs from the old jar have been used up? It drives me bonkers. Luckily, I usually think of a way to turn it those remaining spoonfuls into something delicious and at the same get rid of the thing in the fridge that is mocking my sense of kitchen order.

So, after extracting the peanut butter from the jar, I decided to make some peanut butter granola bars. It’s no coincidence that the recipe is very similar to the recipe for Perfect Granola.

Peanut Butter Granola Bars
Makes 10

3 cups of oats
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 cup of currents or raisins*
1/2 cup of walnuts, chopped*
1/3 cup of dried cranberries, chopped*
1/3 cup of sunflower seeds
1/4 cup flax seeds, ground
1/2 cup peanut butter (‘peanuts only’ type)
1/4 cup of grapeseed oil (or another neutral flavoured oil)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. *Chop fruit or nuts into small pieces. (i.e. I even chop up the cranberries and raisins into smaller pieces.) If the pieces are too large, the bars will fall apart. Flax seeds can be ground in a blender. Put oats, salt and chopped fruit, nuts and seeds into a large bowl and set aside.

In a sauce pan, add peanut butter, maple syrup, honey and vanilla.

Stir constantly on low just until it starts to boil.

Then immediately take it off the heat and pour over oat mixture. Mix well, making sure everything is well coated. Press into a greased 9x9 inch square baking dish, packing it down as firmly as possible with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until the edges start to brown.

Let bars cool in the pan completely before cutting.

Keep in a covered container for up to a week.

Green Salad with Pears and Cranberries

Last fall I re-discovered pears thanks to the gift of a generous gardener. I received a huge basket of them - freshly picked. And after the basket was gone and all throughout the winter, I found myself craving them and seeking them out - forgoing my usual winter fruit choices - apples, bananas and oranges.

This year, I was lucky enough to help pick them.

All this from a single tree...

Aren't they beautiful? I see these and I understand why artists paint still lifes.

I had planned to make a pear tart, thinking that the basket would ripen all at once. But I've had a lovely bunch in my fridge for weeks now and putting one or two out at a time seems to have kept them just perfect for eating.

I decided to use a few in a salad. I wanted a recipe that would benefit from their subtle sweetness. Here's what I came up with:

Green Salad with Pears and Cranberries
Serves 2

Mixed Field Greens (buy a blend or make your own with the following: arugula, radicchio, romaine lettuce, baby spinach, frisee)
2 ripe Bartlett pears
2 Tablespoons of dried cranberries
2 Tablespoons of roasted sunflower seeds
2 slices of dense multi grain bread
2 Tablespoons + 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon whole grain (also called old-fashioned) Dijon mustard
sea salt and black pepper

Step 1: Make Croutons
In a large frying pan, heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Cut bread into cubes and grill over low heat until the oil is absorbed and the cubes are browned and crisp.

Step 2: Make Dressing
In a small bowl combine remaining oil, vinegar, mustard and salt and pepper to taste.

Step 3: Prepare fruits and vegetables
Wash and dry greens and tear into pieces. Wash and core the pears. If the skins are a bit tough, you can peel them. Then slice them into wedges.

Step 4: Toss
Just before serving, gently toss everything together in a large bowl. Add the croutons just before tossing with the dressing so they stay crisp. Be careful not to crush the pears. Adjust seasoning and serve at room temperature.

I realize in this photo you can't see the pears very well, but they're in there!

Vanilla Maple Blueberry Cake

Birthday surprise....

This post is long overdue. A while back, I had a birthday. And I must have been hinting pretty hard about wanting a cake. In fact, I know I was. 

A few days before my birthday, Mr. PL and I were watching something on TV and someone was messing up some baking...dropping the egg right into the flour or something like that. I wondered aloud about how it was they didn't know about 'wet' and 'dry' ingredients. Mr. PL said..."I guess baking's a lot like chemistry." Well, I saw my chance.

"Have you ever baked anything?" I asked. "Like cookies? Or a cake?"

"No, I don't think I have," he said.

"Hmmm. You should try it sometime," was my casual reply.

Now, I wasn't hinting with the expectation that my subtle 'request' would be at all acknowledged. But in the back of my mind I thought, "Wouldn't it be sweet if he got my drift and baked me a cake for my birthday?" Poor guys...I mean really. It's no wonder they never know what we're taking about.

Much to my delight, I arrived home on my birthday to find a beautiful cake. And, a funny story about how he tried to blend a hard block of butter with some water and a hand blender, only to end up with butter on the walls. Some of the butter stayed in the bowl and made it into the batter in chunks. His rationale: they'll melt. Well, he was right - the cake was delicious!

He also surprised me with a set of photos that I could post on my blog. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story...

Vanilla...

Maple...

Blueberry....

Cake!

Sweet :)