Reader Bob. C. kindly sent us one of his favorite recipes, for Fruity-Oaty Bars. The name was inspired by the fictional wave commercial in the movie Serenity. His recipe starts with a basic granola bar, and then he offers several variations–including his favorite Fruity-Oaty variation. Bob says that his Fruity-Oaty variant “…provides tremendous strength and endurance, for terminal situations. They make a man out of a mouse. These are the best bars in the ‘Verse.”
The recipe can be doubled, if you have an extra large mixing bowl, and a deep sauce pan.
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour (whole wheat or white flour)
- 4 ½ cups rolled oats
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ⅔ to ¾ cup of honey
- ½ cup melted butter
- ¼ cup of light brown sugar
Variations
- Fruity-Oaty Bars (aka The Healthy Kind): Add up to 1 cup of Craisins, and up to 1/2 cup each of chopped dried apricots, shredded coconut, and/or chopped almonds
- The Cinnamon Kind: Add no more than ½ tsp of cinnamon to the dry ingredient mix
- The Maple Kind: Substitute maple syrup for less than one half of the honey in the wet ingredients
- Smores Granola Bars (aka The Unhealthy Kind): Add 1 cup of mini marshmallows –or frozen and chopped marshmallows–, and 1 cup of chocolate chips
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 325 F.
- Dry Mixture: Mix together the oats, flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in any of the aforementioned variation additions, if desired.
- Wet Mixture: Melt butter and stir in honey, brown sugar, and vanilla.
- Pour wet mixture over the dry mixture and then stir it well. (If too dry, then add some more honey.)
- Press combined mixture into a cookie sheet with raised edges. (You can use a 9×13 inch baking pan if you prefer thick bars).
- Press down firmly with a spatula.
- Bake at 325 F for 18 to 22 minutes. (Less for thin bars, more for thick bars).
- Using a spatula, again press the bars down firmly, hot from the oven.
- Let the batch cool for 10 minutes in pan, and then slice into bars of desired size.
- Allow the bars to cool completely in the pan before removing, with a spatula.
SERVING
Bob says: “Best served during marathon binge-watching of Firefly, with Serenity at the end.”
STORAGE
Stack them in an airtight container, with a sheet of wax paper between each layer. Because the recipe includes butter, these are best stored refrigerated. Or, if you need to pack them for hiking, you can wrap the bars in individual wrappings of cling wrap. These will also store for several months in your freezer.
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Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column we place emphasis on recipes that use long term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven and slow cooker recipes, and any that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!