"granola bars" news and stories

It's easy to reach for something processed out of a box when snack time rolls around, but you might be surprised how simple it is to make chewy granola bars at home -- and with ingredients you already have in your pantry. KitchenDaily expert Lauren Braun Costello has the recipe. Start with quick oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, and then get creative -- you can also add coconut, nuts or other dried fruit.

Get Lauren's recipe for Granola Bars.

Interesting list over at ACalorieCounter.com: 10 Surprising Foods That Contain Trans Fat.

Now, he admits that a couple of foods on the list aren't that surprising (such as Ritz Crackers or cookies), but he explains that many foods that are advertised as "0 trans fats" actually contain some trans fats, the amount is just low enough to be able for them to say it's "0." And the amount goes up more if a person has more than the one serving size that labels have the amounts for (and we all know we all eat more than one serving).

I didn't think plain Saltines had trans fat, but there you go.

They might look like cookies at first glance, but these oatmeal breakfast bars from Sugar and Spices are really a healthy way to start off the morning. The bars are packed with oats, raisins, walnuts, a modest amount of sugar and minimal fat. Soft and chewy, they sound like the would be very satisfying without being too heavy - much like the Matisse and Jack's energy bars that I baked up a couple of weeks back. On top of their relatively healthy profile, homemade bars are a good alternative to store bought snack bars because they offer you the chance to adapt them to your taste. Want dried cranberries or blueberries instead of raisins? Or hazelnuts instead of walnuts? Not a problem. The bars do not take very long to make and spending an hour on them over the weekend will definitely save some time if you tend to be in a rush on weekday mornings.

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Hershey Foods is releasing even more products into its snack lines. The company which is aggressively developing and marketing new snacks is now moving into the granola bar arena. The three newest entries into the market are Reese's Sweet & Salty Granola Bars, with Chocolate, Pretzels, or Peanuts. These are in addition to its already successful in the national number two slot, two-year-old rice Hershey's Snack Barz. The new granola bars will be introduced to further shore up Hershey's attempt at controlling the health food snack aisle in supermarkets and convenience stores. Besides Hershey's and Reese's brands they have numerous cookie, snack, and trail mix products being released under the Payday, and SmartZone brands to bulk up their line-up. Hershey Foods is investing big time in product development and introduction. Last year alone they spent $125 million on media/advertising for their snacks and candies. Hershey's present goal is to grab 9 to 12 percent of the $65 billion snack market and move to 19 to 25 percent of the single-serve snack market. The line between candy, snacks, and health foods is blurring as fast as one of the speeding machines at Daytona Racetrack. What's next? Healthy candy bars with added vitamins and minerals? Kid's begging for granola to get their sugar fix? Health and diet choices just got a bit more confusing in an already mixed up world.

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With only a few exceptions, granola bars have steadily gotten worse over the past few years. This probably has to do with the fact that more time is being spent developing energy bars, nutrition bars, cereal bars and snack bars, all of which have been growing in popularity. I happen to like granola bars and think of them not necessarily as health food, though they certainly do have healthy aspects, but as a healthy alternative to a candy bar. I like my granola bars to be chewy, slightly soft (as opposed to dry and hard) and with a little bit of crunch.

These perfectly fit the bill.