A while ago, I purchased a few bags of "jammy bits" in various flavors from King Arthur Flour. Jammy bits are soft, chewy cubes of sweetened fruit juice and pectin that hold their shape during baking and I was planning to incorporate them into scones. But them I promptly forgot all about them. When I spotted them in the cabinet recently, I figured I had better find something to make with them and decided to try a King Arthur recipe for "Granola Bars with Raspberry Jammy Bits."
These bars are very easy to make. You stir together the dry ingredients (quick-cooking oats, oat flour, sticky bun sugar, salt, cinnamon, nuts, and jammy bits), mix in the wet ingredients (melted butter or oil, vanilla, honey or maple syrup or corn syrup, and water), press the mixture into a pan, and bake. I didn't have any sticky bun sugar, so I used the substitution suggested on the King Arthur blog of granulated sugar, melted butter, and corn syrup. I made two batches. The first used raspberry jammy bits, almonds, and pistachios, and the second used blueberry jammy bits, cashews, and almonds.
There bars are much more dense than a supermarket granola bar and are almost solid. They are also incredibly chewy, especially the browned edges, which were my favorite part. I thought these were terrific -- better than a normal granola bar, but also definitely sweeter and more dessert like, especially because of the light cinnamon flavor. I loved the big chunks of nuts, and the jammy bits provided bright little bursts of fruity flavor. I can imagine these would be delicious with all sorts of different mix-ins, like chocolate chips, dried cherries, coconut, or sunflower or pumpkin seeds. I actually wanted to put toasted corn in the blueberry bars, but Tom talked me out of it (I still think toasted corn would add a wonderful salty crunch!).
The only thing that prevents me from making these regularly is the fact that jammy bits are quite expensive; I've always bought them when they've been on sale (then again, I could always make the bars without the jammy bits, but the bits are so tasty!). Plus, these granola bars could become a bad habit. It's always tempting to think of granola bars as being "healthy," but I'm not going to try to pretend that the oats and oat flour make these bars good for you!
Recipe: "Granola Bars with Raspberry Jammy Bits" from King Arthur Flour.
These bars are very easy to make. You stir together the dry ingredients (quick-cooking oats, oat flour, sticky bun sugar, salt, cinnamon, nuts, and jammy bits), mix in the wet ingredients (melted butter or oil, vanilla, honey or maple syrup or corn syrup, and water), press the mixture into a pan, and bake. I didn't have any sticky bun sugar, so I used the substitution suggested on the King Arthur blog of granulated sugar, melted butter, and corn syrup. I made two batches. The first used raspberry jammy bits, almonds, and pistachios, and the second used blueberry jammy bits, cashews, and almonds.
The only thing that prevents me from making these regularly is the fact that jammy bits are quite expensive; I've always bought them when they've been on sale (then again, I could always make the bars without the jammy bits, but the bits are so tasty!). Plus, these granola bars could become a bad habit. It's always tempting to think of granola bars as being "healthy," but I'm not going to try to pretend that the oats and oat flour make these bars good for you!
Recipe: "Granola Bars with Raspberry Jammy Bits" from King Arthur Flour.
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