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Holiday Granola Bars or Citrus Oat Bars


I've been feeling like one of Santa's elves lately busy working in my workshop.  It's always a big push to get our boxes mailed off to Japan to Nick's family and the grandkids and then once that's done, it's another big push to get all the almond roca mailed out to everyone.  In-between all that, it's wrapping presents and putting them under the tree.  My dinning room or workshop looks like this:


It's a good thing we aren't having anymore dinner parties...!  All I have to do now is get ready for Christmas and that seems like the easy and fun part.  We've done quite a few fun things in-between all the preparations like go to the Public Market and enjoy their Christmas festivities, eat their good food and do some Christmas shopping.  Just being at the Market is fun in and of itself.  It's my favorite place of all Seattle.  And we are fortunate that it is so easy for us to get there because we just take the water taxi across Elliot Bay from our neighborhood in West Seattle and walk up the waterfront to the Market.  Easy, peasy. 



My second favorite place in Seattle is Green Lake and my friend and I attended the Pathway of Lights festival there that is an annual holiday event.  This year they even had hot air balloons.  It was a gorgeous evening, a balmy 55 degrees, no wind and the lake was prefectly calm. It was a beautiful sight.




The Pathway of Lights is where they put luminaries all around the 2.8 mile perimeter of the lake which makes for a lovely walk.  


Usually, it's cold and rainy but this year was a once-in-a-lifetime beautiful evening for this event and we took full advantage of it.  The sunset was spectular.  The whole sky turned pink and we just stood their and watched everything in awe. 

                     

And last night, we went with my sister and her husband to the Seattle Men's Chorus Christmas program at beautiful Benaroya Hall in downtown Seatttle.  We have a friend who is now a member of the chorus and we were so thrilled to see him perform.  


It is so important now more than ever to support our LBGTQ+ community with our current adminstration working hard to take away their rights, as well as taking away women's rights, immigrant's rights, etc.  I don't even want to think about the depressing state of our country right now.  Going to this concert last night was truly uplifting and you could feel the love everyone has despite the dark road our country is traveling down right now.  I was so glad we went.  They always do a sing-a-long at the end of the show which is so fun and sure to get you in the Christmas spirit.

I've been in the Christmas spirit a lot this season and going to all these special holiday events helps a lot.  I even came up with a new treat to give out as gifts, along with the almond roca that Bruce always makes. My new treat are these granola bars.  The recipe was in the paper last week talking about British flapjacks that use golden syrup.  I just used honey and it works fine. I have always loved the combination of cranberry and orange together, so I call this recipe Holiday Granola Bars.  These bars are not real crunchy like some granola bars but more on the softer side. After you take them out of the oven, they are really soft but they firm up as they cool.  I put them in the freezer and take one out whenever we want to eat one.  We love them.  As gifts, I wrapped them in brown paper that I got on Amazon here and tied them with red and white twine. 


I also ordered flat bottom bags that they fit in perfectly and tied with a red ribbon.


Isn't that a cute gift?  And they taste so good.  I plan to make a couple more batches before Christmas.  It's a semi-healthy treat, different that the usual Christmas candies or cookies so I was quite pleased with this recipe.  They taste like the holidays with all the spices, orange zest and cranberries and will provide a quick pick-me-up for your friends.  And they will be sure to get you in the Christmas spirit, too. 

Makes 12 bars

4 cups rolled oats
1 stick butter
1/2 cup golden syrup or honey
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
2 Tbsp. orange zest (2-3 oranges)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line an 8-inch-by-8-inch dish with parchment paper on all four sides. (You can use a 9-inch-by-13-inch dish but the bars will be thinner)  Or you can buy these granola bar molds from Amazon and make it super easy.


2.  In a food processor or immersion blender, pulse the oats a few times, enough to break up some of the oats but not enough to create meal.  Transfer into a large bowl.


3.  In a pot over low heat, melt butter, honey or golden syrup (I used honey) and brown sugar together, whisking to combine.  Continue whisking until thick and glossy, about 6 minutes.


4.  Whisk in vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, orange zest and salt.  


5.  Pour over the oats in the large bowl and stir to combine.  Add the dried cranberries and pecans.


6.  Transfer to prepared pan or molds and spread evenly. 


7.  Bake until golden, 25 to 28 minutes.  

8.  Let cool completely before cutting or before removing from the molds.  They harden up as they cool.

Enjoy your homemade granola bars!








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