Cherry Chocolate Chunk Granola Bars

On Facebook last week, I had posted a picture of those Feta and Sage Mini Chicken Meatloaves and had people guess what it was. One guess was for some sort of homemade granola bars, which got me thinking. So the next day, I decided to try my hand at making homemade granola bars, since I buy the boxed kind for my kids a couple of times a month anyway. They were REALLY good and the kids LOVED them! 

*Tip: Place the pan in the freezer once it has cooled enough. It makes them cool quicker and also made it easier to cut. I also found that they stayed together better if you store them in the refrigerator. 

Cherry Chocolate Chunk Granola Bars
3 c. Old Fashioned Oats
2 tbsp. Butter (I used salted)
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 c. Dried Cherries, chopped
1/2 c. Nestle's Chocolate Chunks (you can substitute carob or regular chocolate chips or dark chocolate)
1/2 c. Blue Agave Syrup
1/4 c. Honey

Add the butter, vanilla, agave syrup and honey to small saucepan and heat over low heat until butter has melted. In the meantime, combine the oats, cherries and chocolate in a bowl. Pour the butter mixture over the oat mixture and mix well. Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper and add the oats, spreading evenly in the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Allow to cool then cut into squares. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. 

Nutritional Information for 12 Bars: Calories 226,  Fat 5.4g, Fiber 5g, Protein 2.7g

Enjoy! 

Morello Cherry Almond Crisp

Morello cherries are a sour cherry with dark red skin and juice. I found some at a recent trip to Trader Joe's along with almond meal, which is simply ground up almonds, and thought they would make a nice dessert. If you don't have a Trader Joe's in your area, they generally carry both of these items at any health food store. This crisp was both tart and sweet and the almond meal gave the crisp a nice, nutty flavor. 

Morello Cherry Almond Crisp

2 12oz Jars Trader Joe's Dark Morello Cherries
2 tbsp. Agave Syrup
1/2 c. Oats
1/2 c. Light Brown Sugar
1/2 c. White Chocolate Chips
1/2 c. Trader Joe's Just Almond Meal
3 tbsp. Butter, melted

Drain the liquid from the cherries and place cherries in a bowl and add the syrup; mix well. In a separate bowl, mix together the oats, sugar, chocolate chips, almond meal and melted butter until it it crumbly. Place the cherry mixture into an oven safe baking dish (approx. 8"x8"), then spread the oat mixture on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. Serves 6. 

Enjoy! 

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Cherry Almond Biscotti

This past Saturday, I had to make some items for a bake sale and wanted to try out a new variation of biscotti. That, and I was cleaning out my pantry and came across some dried cherries and a partial bag of slivered almonds (which ironically enough I had just enough to make this batch!). These were INCREDIBLE! I love the flavor combination of cherries and almonds and my hubby actually wound up buying some himself since I wouldn't let him eat any of them at home. :)

Cherry Almond Biscotti
2 c. All-Purpose Flour
1 c. Granulated Sugar
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Almond Extract
3 Eggs
1/2 c. Dried Cherries, chopped
1/2 c. Slivered Almonds

In a bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and almond extract. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix well until all of the ingredients have been incorporated.  Next, fold in the cherries and almonds. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough is no longer sticky, then form into a 12” long log shape and flatten down so that it is no higher than 1”. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, add the dough and bake at 325° F for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool, then slice diagonally into ½ “ slices and put them back on the baking sheet. Bake an additional 10 minutes per side and 

remove from oven. Let cool and allow to harden before serving. Makes 2 dz.

Points+=3 per Biscotti

Enjoy!

Spinach Salad with Candied Pecans & Dried Cherries in a Balsamic Mustard Vinaigrette

This salad is so simple to make and you can add just about anything you wish to it but I happened to have a few extra candied pecans left from when I made the biscotti so I tossed in some of those, with some dried cherries and this was a great, quick dinner salad. For the hard boiled eggs, simply put the eggs into a pan of cold water and let them come to a boil. Once the water starts to boil, set your timer for 6 minutes then "test" the egg before cooling them by spinning it. Ok for those of you new to this technique, I found a video on You Tube . But basically, the way to tell if your egg is hard boiled or not is to try spinning it on the narrow point of the egg. If it falls to the side, it's not cooked all the way. If it spins upright, then it's hard boiled. Once cooked, cool the egg by placing it in cold water with some ice to speed the process. Refrigerate until you're ready to slice.

Spinach Salad with Candied Pecans & Dried Cherries in a Balsamic Mustard Vinaigrette
10oz. Bag Fresh Spinach
1/4 c. Candied Pecans
1/2 c. Dried Cherries
10 Baby Carrots, sliced
2 Hard Boiled Eggs, sliced
1 Cucumber, peeled and sliced
Prepared Vinaigrette

Wash spinach, remove stems and gently tear the leaves and place into a large bowl. Add the pecans, cherries, carrots, eggs and cucumbers. Add the prepared vinaigrette and toss coating all of the leaves. Serves 4.



Balsamic Mustard Vinaigrette
1/4 c. Balsamic Vinegar
2 tbsp. Stone Ground Mustard (I used Inglehoffer)
1/2 c. Canola Oil

Whisk all ingredients together until well blended. Makes 3/4 cup.

Enjoy!