Breakfast Bars

I did my first recipe modification yesterday. I wasn't really sure what to make and since my families goes through a ton of granola bars that I would make something a bit healthier to replace them.

the Original recipe looked like this:

2 egg whites

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 cup chopped nuts (any)

1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

My recipe looked like this:

1 egg

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

The original recipe called for egg whites but that seemed like a waste to me. What would I do with the yolk? Besides, an eggs yolk is where all the nutrients is! It is filled with fat soluble vitamins and essentially fatty acids. Why throw away this nutritional powerhouse?

Because I wanted this to be more of a breakfast/ granola bar, instead of a dessert like snack the original one was, I halved the sugar and added in 1/2 cup of oats. Oats have been known to lower cholesterol levels, contain antioxidants that may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and are a good source of fiber (among many other things!).

For the flour I replaced 1/2 the amount with whole wheat flour. Whole wheat flour hasn't been as processed as all purpose flour so it contains more nutrients.

I used pecans and sliced almonds for the nuts because they were what I had on hand. Nuts are a good source of healthy fat and other nutrients. I only used half the amount of nuts that the original recipe called for because I ran out (oops!) and I improvised by adding in 1/2 a cup of raisins. Raisins are a good source of antioxidants and the trace mineral boron. Boron is especially important to women health and is related to bone development and can help prevent osteoporosis.

The result? The were actually pretty good considering the amount of alterations I made. These were a heartier bar and weren't as sweet as the original would have been. They would make a perfect snack or quick breakfast.

The nice thing about these bars is that I think you could do a lot of different variations of them using what ever you had on hand. They would be really good with things like coconut, dried crandberries or chocolate chips (antioxidants!).

My brothers comment? "They tasted like marshmellow"

....um what?! haha