Apricot Granola Bars

I am deep into my last finals season ever, so I haven't been baking a lot.  A couple of nights ago, though, close to midnight, I was about to go to bed but felt the overwhelming urge to make something edible instead.  Granola bars are perfect for that: they need to cool all night anyway.  These ones turns out chewy and substantial and yummy.

I don't have time or energy to write much more right now.  All that energy is going into papers.  Enjoy the recipe!

Raw Energy Bars

When I need a quick breakfast or afternoon snack, I regularly turn to Larabars.  They're vegan, raw, and have fewer ingredients than I can count on one hand, with no preservatives and no added sugar.  I love them.  I have wanted to make my own for a while now, to save some money and to be able to experiment with flavors.  I knew that the bars were essentially date-paste mixed with nuts and fruit and stuff, but I've never made raw foods with dates.  I was intimidated.  I thought it would be hard.

It's not.

A few days ago, my friend Abby (also a fan of Larabars) directed me to a wonderful, vegan-friendly cooking blog, Enlightened Cooking, that had a recipe for Lara-type bars.  Excited, I went out and bought same dates and got to experimenting.

I hit the yummy/easy goldmine.  All you need is 10 minutes and a food processor.

Best Pancakes

I get it.  They don't look like much.  But stick with me here.  It is really hard to get a good picture of pancakes -- they're all about the taste, man, not the looks -- especially early in the morning when your humble cook is more interested in scarfing down her creation while it's still hot than fiddling with her camera's settings.

And these pancakes are fantastic.

Most mornings I go for very simple and quick breakfast options -- oatmeal and fruit, granola, a Larabar -- but some days, I really need something special.  Enter the Best Pancakes.  They're light and delicious with a hint of banana and vanilla flavors.  They're easy to make.  They don't sit in your stomach like a rock like so many pancakes do.  Plus, like many of my recipes, this recipe is a template and can be dressed up to fit your mood (tropical pancakes?  chocolate chip pancakes?  blueberry lemon pancakes?  the possibilities are endless!) or just enjoyed with some good, old fashioned maple syrup.  These are special pancakes.  They're the best.

Molasses Fruit & Nut Granola + Basic Granola Template

I love messing with recipes.  I love tweaking this or substituting that to come up with something new.  Actually, my favorite recipes aren't as much recipes as general guidelines -- templates, if you will, for endless, delicious variations.

The other night, I needed a break from writing a paper, and I decided to make granola.  It being nighttime and me being in my pajamas, I wasn't very inclined to go shopping, so I was limited to what I had in my pantry (which is, admittedly, pretty well stocked given my tendency to procrastinate through late-night baking).  I took my basic granola template and invented this Molasses Fruit & Nut Granola recipe, which turned out very tasty.  I've thrown in my granola template at the end of this post, so you, too, can come up with your own endless granola variations.