I know the obvious like substituting Natural PB for regular, Smart Balance for butter, and omitting the chocolate chips. However, what would you all do for the brown sugar and honey? I SOOOOO want these for breakfast!!! Also, I understand this is more a "South Beach Recipes" kind of question but I was hoping to have some ideas tonight. Thanks in advance girls!
~ Lisa
Peanut Butter Granola Bars
from Giada at Home
(Makes 24 Bars)
Cooking spray
1 egg white
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup (1-stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 cups old fashioned oats
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/3 cup miniature chocolate chips
Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray a 7 by 10 3/4-inch nonstick baking pan with vegetable cooking spray. Lay a 6 by 18-inch piece of parchment paper in the pan, allowing the excess paper to hang over the sides. Spray the parchment paper lightly with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, using a hand beater, beat the egg white until frothy. Stir in the peanut butter, brown sugar, and honey. Add the melted butter, oats and almonds. Stir to combine, then add the chocolate chips.
Using a rubber spatula, spread mixture into the prepared baking pan, pressing lightly to form an even layer. Bake until the edge of the mixture begins to brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 1 hour. Cut into 1 1/2-inch squares and serve.
You can fake brown sugar with SF maple syrup mixed with splenda, and the honey can easily be either sugar free honey or dark agave nectar (though to me, the SF honey tastes closer to "the real thing")..
Does Smart Balance bake well? I know some spreads don't..
Last edited by Mum2Monkeys; 02-15-2011 at 04:58 PM.
Well I can't eat dairy so I've never tried it, but I know for a fact that Earth Balance can be used for frying and baking because I've used it I use the dairy free/soy free but they have a soy-based one that's just dairy free as well..
I just remember my mom complaining about some kind of "healthy spread" not working well in cooking, so I thought I'd mention it
BROWN SWEET 'N LOW (Saccharin)
20 calories per teaspoon 4 teaspoons = 1 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon =
1/4 cup brown sugar
Can be used in cooking or baking without losing sweetness. Note that
measurements differ from packet sweeteners.
Wow, awesome! Also thinking... if I used 1/3 cup SF maple syrup and no splenda or SF honey, would it taste sweet enough? Or do I need the SF honey as a binder? Darn that Giada.
I think it would need to have more sweetener than that, especially since you wouldn't be using sweetened peanut butter and no chocolate chips... And now that you mention it, the honey probably is a binder as well, though that's also what the egg white would be for..
Last edited by Mum2Monkeys; 02-15-2011 at 05:47 PM.
I'm not sure if you are looking for a substitute for the oatmeal but I make a granola bar recipe with kashi go lean. I just whip the kashi in a food processor so it's not so lumpy and cooks down.
use smart balance for baking instead of butter, it comes in stick form and works great.
the honey is there as a sweetener and a binder, you can easily replace it with sf maple syrup, sf honey (though I find that sf honey has a weird aftertaste, it might just be me) or agave in equal amounts. You could also replace it with mashed banana, which is what I would probably do.
The brown sugar seems excessive, but I would switch it to splenda if you want to beach it up. It will lack the richness of the brown sugar, but if you find the finished product lacking, give the next batch a tablespoon or so of molasses.
and as you know, natural peanut butter.
I wouldn't leave the chocolate chips out, but rather replace them with dark chocolate and halve the amount. Since they are so high in nuts, you're not going to be able to eat a ton of them anyway.
These are awfully close to nessa bars once you beach them up, and nessa bars don't use any fat. i make nessa bars with peanut butter and chocolate chips all the time.
Who Can Beachify This Recipe???
I use the dairy free/soy free but they have a soy-based one that's just dairy free as well.. 
