I'm Insane...Mixed Berry & Apple Almond Granola Bars

Alright, that's it. I've lost it. I've completely lost my mind. In the midst of all this writing/working/chaos I've suddenly decided to attempt making granola bars for a set I'm production managing this weekend from scratch. Why? I have no idea. Well, that's a lie, I have some idea. I saw this recipe for Raspberry Breakfast bars on Smitten Kitchen (one of the great food blogs, of course) ages ago, and since then I've had it in the back of my mind to attempt them. But why, why oh why, did I decide to make them for at least 20 people and in the middle of a week where I'm prepping for this shoot as well as trying to get all my work done??? It's because I'm insane, nothing else to it.

Shooting starts at 5 am and goes till about 5 pm every day, which made me think "Gee, we need really good breakfast foods." Another excuse for me to try and make these. So of course, if you're going to be cooking for a set, you've got to make at least two batches, which is what I did. One is a mixed berry from frozen berries, the other is apples and almonds. I figured if I cut them up small enough, they'd last at least a day and a half (hopefully). Oh, and just to add to my masochism, I made these around midnight, and didn't finish till about 3 am. Yeah, this is not a recipe to just "whip up" any old night. It takes some forethought.

This is the consistency your crumb/crust mixture should reach

Having said that, I knew I was onto something good when I tasted the crumb mixture. If I had a spoon and no conscience, I could've eaten that alone no problem. It was AWESOME. The cinnamon, butter, brown sugar, oats...it's hard to go wrong with a combination like that. The only problem was, my food processor couldn't handle all the dry ingredients. So I just cut up the oats with the flour, and then did the rest by hand. Mind you, it can be done, but mixing 3 sticks worth of butter cubes into a heap of flour, oats and sugar is no small feat. Took a while, but in the end was worth it.

One reason I may have decided to spend my night covered in oats and brown sugar is to distract me. See, I just turned in my application for the coveted This American Life internship a few days ago, and it's been driving me crazy. I want this job. I really want this job. And not only that, I know I would be good at it. But I don't find out for another three weeks. So till then, I spend my nights baking to drown out the thoughts in my head. Thank god there's a bunch of hungry filmmakers to eat most of this stuff, otherwise I'd probably weigh about 348 pounds.

Mixed berry granola bars

Now, I said this wasn't the easiest recipe, but the bars are tasty. Now, I say "granola", but they're a bit more dessert-like than that. These could easily be served as a luxurious brunch item, or as a substitute for a scone with afternoon tea. Or just any old time you feel like eating something sweet and delicious, with a bit of fruit. And of course, the great thing about these is you can do pretty much anything to them. My next combination most likely will be chocolate ganache and peanut butter (I know, my heart skipped a beat too).

Other than being antsy, I'm going to start upping my baking schedule because of one very important upcoming event: the annual Tisch Grad Film Bake-Off!!! Yeah, I think it goes without saying that I'm entering, but it's gotten around that I'm the one to beat. And now it seems I've got a fair bit of competition. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a little bit of pressure: I seriously have to nail this. So if anyone has any ideas as to what might be a sure-fire winner, please, I need help!

Apple almond granola bars

Sadly, since it was around 2 am, I burned the bottom crust of the apple bars. I tasted them later, and they're fine, but not as stellar as they could have been. Just be careful when your bottom crust is in the oven to not let it get too brown. Also, I should mention that there is a higher ratio of crust to fruit in both these bars. While that's not altogether a bad thing (like I said, the crust is dee-licious), but if you're looking for something more fruit-centric, I'd add more. You could probably up the apple bars to three, even three and a half apples, and an extra half pound of berries for the mixed berry ones.

Alright. Time to get my life in order. The bars are done, I've got a few new pages of my script, and I can't do anything more about my TAL application so I'm going to stop thinking about it. Yes, things are going to start falling in place, I can feel it! I'm going to be productive! Hmm...or I could make roasted chicken breasts w/ sauteed kale and sunchokes and just tell you guys how that goes.... (more on this endeavor later)

Mixed Berry & Apple Almond Granola Bars

(by Smitten Kitchen: http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/09/raspberry-breakfast-bars/)

For crust/crumb:

1 ½ cups flour

1 ¼ cups rolled oats

1 cup brown sugar

¾ tsp salt

¾ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

¾ tsp cinnamon

¾ cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces (room temperature)

For mixed berry filling:

¼ cup brown sugar

1 tbsp lemon zest

½ tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp flour

½ tsp salt

1 pound frozen berries (I used a mixture of strawberry, blueberry, blackberry and raspberry)

3 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For almond apple filling:

¼ and 2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp lemon zest

2 tbsp flour

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp salt

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced into small pieces

1/3 cup slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9”x13” baking pan with cooking spray. Take a long piece of parchment paper and place on bottom, allowing extra to hang over sides of pan (you’re essentially making a sling for the bars).

If you have a large food processor, put all of the crust ingredients into the food processor and blend till you get a dry, crumbly mixture (about 40 to 50 seconds) If you don’t: put flour and oats in your dinky food processor. Process for 20 to 25 seconds, till well combined, and the oats have been ground down. Dump into large mixing bowl. Add sugar, salt, baking powder and soda, and cinnamon. Whisk thoroughly. Place the butter pieces into the dry ingredients in two batches. With the first batch in, use your fingers to combine and mix the butter into the ingredients, pushing the butter into the flour mixture. When the first batch is pretty much combined, add the second and repeat. This does take a few minutes, but it’s worth it!

Reserve 1 ½ cups of crust mixture. Take the rest and place in prepared baking pan and press into the bottom, all the way to the sides. Put in oven and bake for about 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Take out of oven and cool.

For the fillings, the first step with both versions is to mix the brown sugar, zest, cinnamon (and nutmeg for apples), flour and salt in a small mixing bowl.  Place defrosted berries or apples and almonds in larger bowl and pour sugar mixture on top. Toss fruit to coat completely. Add lemon juice and butter and mix with spatula.

Pour fruit mixture on top of cooled crust and spread out to edges. (The berry mixture will look like it’s not enough, but don’t worry.) Take reserved crust mixture and sprinkle on top, till the fruit is completely covered. Press down on the crumb so it seals the fruit in between the layers of dough.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes till top is golden brown, rotating pan every 15 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then use parchment paper sling to remove from pan. Cool to room temperature and cut into bars/squares. Will keep refrigerated for 2 days (long if frozen).

Antsy Wednesdays and Fancy PB&J Sandwich Cookies

I have work to do. A lot of work to do. I need to send my film out to festivals, write a short script, write a feature, help package another feature, update my website, apply for writing programs and internships....screw it. Tonight I make PB&J sandwich cookies. Why? Because with one bite you become 5-years-old again, when your biggest worry was hoping it wouldn't rain so you could ride your bike to the park. But these are adult cookies, more like a toasted peanut shortbread with nice, organic uppity peanut butter and jam sandwiched in between.

While America's Test Kitchen preferred using Jif in their cookies, next time I'd go with my Woodstock Farms Organic PB.

These cookies came about in a way many late night baked creations do. The "what if" moment. Let me explain: you're lying around, surfing the internet, when suddenly you think "what if I crossed a brownie with tater tots?" Thus begins the experimentations and epic successes and failures. This experience, I'd like to think, was a success.

I have recently become addicted to watching America's Test Kitchen episodes online on their website (I caved and bought the annual membership). If you haven't seen this show and enjoy cooking, well, first slap yourself for not knowing about this show, and then immediately go to their website and enjoy. This is their version of the perfect peanut butter cookie and except for one tiny little thing, I'd agree.

The cookies were moist, chewy with great texture, and the toasted chopped peanuts added to the batter give them a great, nutty taste. The only problem is, ATK recommends using Jif peanut butter, stating that most organic peanut butters are too gritty for this cookie. Thinking there's no way these giants of food knowledge could steer me wrong I did what they said and realized: they were, in fact, wrong.

See if you can spot the remanents of my "test subject" cookie.

In the end, these cookies weren't peanut-buttery enough for my taste. My gorgeous Sarabeth's Plum and Cherry Jam was completely covering the peanut goodness. I wanted stronger flavor, and Jif just wasn't cutting it. I had a jar of Woodstock Farms' Organic Peanut Butter on hand, and I decided to add a little extra peanut butter in between the cookie layers. So essentially, I made a pb&j sandwich, but instead of using bread, I used these insanely rich cookies. Because I'm all about eating healthy. 

So good. I wish I was 5 again so I could eat 8 of these and not have them affect my hips at all.

With that extra layer of peanut butter I got exactly what I wanted: toasty peanutty yumminess paired with tart, sweet cherry jam. But be warned: these cookies will kill you. I made standard sized cookies, but as sandwiches, they were pretty heavy and dense. Next time, I'll try to make them petite. But if you use a good, strong peanut butter in the batter to begin with, I'd guess you wouldn't have to add more PB to the final product.

And I'd suggest using a good jam for these. Keep the Smucker's for your late night/half drunk toast cravings and break out the local artisanal stuff. I opted for the Sarabeth's line, which I believe is generally available in most New York City grocery stores. They are expensive, but they are fantastic. Or, if you want to save a few bucks and have ten minutes, just make jam at home using my little ol' recipe (coming up in a couple days). 

I tried a flat version of these cookies as well. These browned a bit more, and had a slightly more caramel-y taste. I'd say if you like doughy, go traditional, but if you like a deeper flavor, try to flatten these cookies out.

PB&J Sandwich Cookies (adapted from America's Test Kitchen Peanut Butter Cookies)

Note: I opted for the smooth peanut butter over chunky, as is stated in the original recipe, because I knew from the beginning I'd be using these cookies in sandwich form, and felt too much nuttiness would create a structural problem. The toasted chopped peanuts you add bring enough of that peanut flavor, in my opinion. Just use good peanut butter!

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks butter, salted
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter (Woodstock Farms Organic is good)
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup roasted salted peanuts, ground in food processor to resemble bread crumbs
Jar of good jam (will depend on how much jam you'd like as to how much to use)

Adjust oven rack to low center position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking soda and powder, and salt together.

In large bowl beat butter until creamy. Add sugars. Beat in peanut butter, then eggs, then vanilla. Toss dry ingredients into wet and stir gently. Add ground peanuts, stir until just incorporated.

To make smaller sandwich cookies, take a little less than a tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. Continue with the rest of the dough, placing each ball on a cookie sheet about two inches apart from one another. Pour cold water into a small bowl and grab a fork. Dip fork in water and press the tines into the dough ball, flattening it. Dip fork again and press into cookie at a 90 degree angle from the first impression, creating the traditional pb cookie crosshatch.

Bake until the cookies are puffy and slightly browned around the edges. The middles should NOT be browned. About 10 minutes. These will not looked completely baked, but trust me. Cool on tray for about 4 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.

Once the cookies have completely cooled, spread selected jam onto the bottom of one cookie and take another and press bottoms together. If you'd like more PB flavor, spread a thin layer of peanut butter on 2nd cookie bottom.