Peanut Butter and Jelly Granola Bars

It's back to school with PB & J Granola Bars! This was a recipe I've been wanting to try since the middle of last year but never really got to it until now. I figured since most of us are starting (or have started) school soon, I should share this with you guys! :) Especially because this totally looks like a breakfast thing.

Oh and on a side note, just wanted to apologise for the lack of updates from me (Natalie). School has started and it's been extremely hectic! Fear not though, we'll never let this blog die!! NEVER!!!

Anyway, back to the recipe! I haven't actually tried anything peanut butter and jelly before, but I'm pretty glad this turned out really well. The peanut butter sort of became crispy/caramelised (like how it does when you toast peanut butter on bread) so that was rather exciting! :D Also, I'm pretty glad because I managed to healthify the recipe and sort of winged the whole thing. (Living life on the edge- Yes I am dramatic) I like having a healthy and hearty breakfast and this definitely fits the bill! By the way, have I mentioned how much I LOVE oats? Because I really really REALLY do and I'm glad to say I actually managed to ~inspire~ some of my friends to start eating oats too last year. It was a proud moment for me, haha. Can't believe it took me this long to post an oats recipe! Be prepared for more, AS I WILL MAKE ALL OF YOU NON-OAT LOVERS JOIN THE OATS BOAT (it's funny cause it rhymes) SOON!!! (And Nic of course cause she doesn't like oats!! :'( )

Also, I kinda think these granola bars are super photogenic! Or maybe I'm just a little biased haha. But anyway, even if they don't look that good to you, they are incredibly simple to make. :) Just dump all the ingredients in a bowl, press it into a square tin and it's off to the oven! Perfect for lazy people, like me. As you can see, my tin is too big for the bars. That's not really a problem though cause they do hold well together!

More pictures because words can be boring:

And yup let's go on to the recipe now. :)

Peanut Butter and Jelly Granola Bars (Adapted from: Culinary Covers)

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
• 1/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• scant 1/4 cup honey
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/3 cup jam

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Place a 12-inch square of parchment paper over an 8-inch square baking dish and press it down onto the bottom and up the sides of the dish.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the oats, flour, ground flaxseeds, and brown sugar. Stir in the melted butter, honey and peanut butter. Get your hands in there man, definitely worth it! 
3. Press the oat mixture into the prepared baking dish, reserving 1/2 cup for topping. Spoon 4 lines of jam across the top of the oat mixture. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of oat mixture over the jam.
4. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until slightly browned and firm. 
5. Cool completely and cut into 9 squares!
6. Enjoy your little snack (Preferably on the first day cause it's always the most delicious, although it can keep for several days!).

Some comments on the recipe though, the amounts are just rough estimations (because I forgot what I did that day). My sister said the bars were a tad too sweet so you might want to reduce the honey/sugar a little. When you do that, the main thing to take note is that the resulting mixture should feel sandy and sticks together when you press it into the tin! Check out the original recipe for more details if necessary.

So there you have it! Your peanut butter and jelly fix for the day :D I hope you'll give this recipe a try and do let me know when you do! It's perfect for picnics too so yeah, break the rules and eat it not just for breakfast, but anytime of the day! ;D Oh and, do toast it a little because it's nicer when it's warm! Or you can simply dunk it into milk if you're feeling crazy. Maybe it's because I'm crazy, but never mind, do what you want!

That's all for now! Once again, sorry for the lack of updates, but stay tuned for more recipes from Nic and Nat! :D

See you, and for those of us who just conquered Os, all the best for your posting results! :D

Natalie

Lemon-lime Tart

Hey there! About time to revive this space huh? Sorry for the lack of updates recently but I guess holidays are getting busier now. Anyway, after much delay, I finally managed to get back in the kitchen and start cooking!
This tangy dessert is real simple to make, especially after the tweaks I made to the original recipe. Technically, this version doesn't even require baking! So here's the original recipe, and instead of doing a traditional pastry shell, I decided to use a simpler and faster option that is a gingersnap biscuit crust. How to do it?
1. Grab a handful of gingersnaps (store-bought or homemade, your choice) (but the obvious choice is store-bought hahahaha). I used 6 biscuits for 2 12-cm tart pans.
2. Put them into a zip-lock bag, seal it and use a rolling pin to crush the biscuits into fine crumbs.
3. Melt roughly a tablespoon of butter and pour it into the crumbs so they stick together. Then press the crumbs into the tart pans, starting with the sides then base, to form your tart shell!
4. Refrigerate until your lemon-lime curd is ready. See, no baking involved!
If you want to see that in action, watch this. (well, just the biscuit base part)
The gingersnaps went really well with the curd by the way.
So when you can't decide whether to do a lemon pie or a key lime pie, why not do both? Hence resulting in the birth of an amazing lemon-lime tart. The curd is surprisingly easy to make (do not fear the double-boiling method). Double boiling is basically putting the bowl containing the curd ingredients over a simmering pot of water to allow the steam to cook the curd and not the direct heat.
But here's the tricky bit: DO NOT LET YOUR WATER BOIL otherwise the egg whites in the curd will cook, which unfortunately happened to me :( BUT, fret not, because all you need to do then, is to sieve the curd and it'll be perfect. So remember to watch the heat!
So there's really no need to bake the tart after filling the tart shells, because you just need to refrigerate them until set.
Really pleased with how they turned out! Now it's time for you to feast your eyes on these delectable tarts. You know you want some ;-)

 They already look darn good pre-set.

That is what happens to your crust when you don't crush your gingersnaps finely enough....but it's all good, you just need extra butter I guess. Which is pretty unhealthy whoops.

Hope you try this!! And before I go, congrats to all those who got their O'Level results today! No matter what, just follow your heart and don't give up! And kudos to you for making it yay!

See ya soon,

Nic