Today while shopping for the ingredients to make gnocci with spicy chourico sausage and fresh basil – I was inspired by a dish I sampled at a quaint Italian restaurant (PAZZO) in Stratford while taking in Julius Caesar yesterday – I was impressed to overhear a couple discussing the ingredients on granola bar labels. They kept exclaiming to one another, “Sugar!” “Corn syrup!” “More sugar!” Finally the man said to the woman in an exasperated tone, “Are there any that aren’t laden with sugar? I thought these were supposed to be healthy!”
So do most consumers. Many take it for granted that they are, since granola has a reputation of being healthy. We call healthy moms the granola moms, right? But the current granola bar options (and there are ever more) are nothing more than a savy marketing ploy to sell corn syrup (the cheap sugar) to unsuspecting parents. Even the hard (old fashioned) granola bars that do not taste particularly sweet are full of sugars. Is there a better option?
I suggest making homemade granola bars. It is an easy snack to make, can be customized to your particular preferences, and is far cheaper and better for the environment than pre-packaged bars. It is also tastier and far healthier. Below is my favorite recipe.
