Failed (but Oddly Still Edible) Granola Bars....

[hannahp57]

I tried to make some peanut butter chocolate chip granola bars. i have tried a recipe that i liked a long time ago but i can no longer find that one. the other day i did a quick search on the forum and made a recipe. of course i slightly edited it because i wanted granola with only the oats (no nuts, seeds or coconut). sorry but i am picky and i dont like the textures of the oats mixed with seeds. so anyways when i made the recipe i used the oats only and toasted them. i made the paste-like mixture exactly as it said to. i baked it for the correct amount of time. so here is where i labeled it a "failure"

i was supposed to bake 30 minutes at 350. so i set my timer but at ten minutes i could smell them so i checked and the mixture was bubbling considerably. it already looked burnt. but since this was my first time to make them like this so i left them in for the remainder. when they cam out they looked exactly the same. i let them set and cool. and when i went to cut them i had to STAB them and then they crumbled. they tasted okay, not even a burnt taste.

i would love love LOVE a recipe with just oats like the quaker granola bars. my fave flavor combo is peanut butter choc chip so that would be a plus.

also if anyone has any idea what could have been my biggest mistake that would be awesome. dont worry i can handle constructive criticism so bring it on. i have to learn sometime!!!

thanks all!

[ohsotired]

I'm not sure what recipe you used from here, but I maight've used the same one, and had the same results the first time I made them (crumbling).

I have found that if you let them cool only a little bit before cutting them (as in you still need a hot pad to touch the tray), they're still pliable enough that you can cut them into bar shapes. You will still likely get quite a bit of "crumbs" in the tray when you remove the bars, but I just throw that in a baggie and throw it in the fridge, and that's the first "granola" I eat before starting in on the bars.

Hope that helps some!

[RiceGuy]

I think we'd have a better idea of what went wrong if you post the recipe.

At a guess, I'd say perhaps your oven is on the hot side, or you're at a different elevation than the author of the recipe, or maybe the rack in the oven was too close to a heating element. Not knowing the recipe, I can't make any further guesses.