- Hey guys, I have a special treat for you today.
Look who's in my kitchen.
Sara Lynn from The Domestic Geek.
If you're not already familiar with her channel,
I encourage you to head on over there and subscribe.
There you will find lots of tips,
tricks, and short cuts to make your life easier.
And who doesn't need more of that?
- I'm so excited to be here,
I absolutely love hanging out in your kitchen.
It's so inspiring.
- Well thank you, you're welcome any time.
- Thank you.
- And Sara Lynn is gonna show us how to make
something that I've always wanted to learn how to make,
no-bake granola bars.
How great is that?
- And they're so easy to put together.
And they're perfect for back to school,
because I know we're all getting ready
to head back to school, head back to work,
as sad as that might be.
- I know.
- But hopefully these will help ease
the transition a little bit.
That's what I'm after.
- Yes, exactly.
And the good news is there will be
lots of back-to-school recipes on Sara Lynn's channel
and on this channel, so we'll keep you guys well fed
as you head back to school.
- Absolutely, so for this recipe
it is really, really simple.
We are starting with some rolled oats.
And for me, I like to toast my rolled oats before,
it gives them a nice, rich flavor.
A little bit more toasty and warm.
We're also going to be toasting up
some pumpkin seeds and some sunflower seeds.
Now, what you'll notice is this recipe is entirely
nut free, which makes it school safe
and really, really good for back to school.
Because I know a lot of people struggle with nuts.
Now, if you don't have a nut allergy,
you could definitely use nuts in this recipe as well.
Totally your call.
So we're gonna get started by toasting up our oats.
And I like to toast them all together because
who needs extra dishes?
Nobody. - [Beth] I know, right?
- [Sara Lynn] Nobody.
- And here in the States, these oats
we call them old-fashioned oats.
So you can see it marked like that too.
Do you guys do that in Canada?
- Old-fashioned, rolled oats.
Yes, I guess that's-- - I never heard rolled oats.
- [Sara Lynn] Okay, so yes.
- So for the Canadians, rolled oats,
for the Americans, old fashioned.
- Old-fashioned oats, exactly.
That's so funny, I had no idea that that was a difference.
Alright.
So we are getting started with our old-fashioned oats.
- Yes. (laughs)
Our rolled. - [Sara Lynn] Our old-fashion
rolled oats. How about that?
And we're just gonna pop these in the oven,
maybe five or 10 minutes max.
You don't want them to burn.
They actually can burn really quickly.
Keep a good eye on them.
- Got it. In the oven they go.
- So while all that deliciousness is toasting up,
we are gonna get started on the glue
that holds it all together.
And the food glue that we are using today
is actually some beautiful, pitted dates.
Now if you're finding your dates are a bit dry,
I like to soak them first,
because that helps with the moisture.
You can also do this if you're not a date fan.
You can actually also do this with dried figs.
Totally delicious. - [Beth] Love that.
Great idea.
- So, into the food processor this goes.
And we are basically going to pulse it up
until it sort of like forms its own little
gooey dough, basically.
- Okay.
(food processor whirring)
- See?
- Oh wow.
- It turns into a ball.
- [Beth] Oh my gosh, it totally.
- [Sara Lynn] And takes the food processor with it.
- It totally turns into a ball.
- It does.
So it's really sticky.
And you can see, yes, so.
- [Beth] Careful, that, that, you're
going to cut yourself there. - [Sara Lynn] Oh yes, no we
should definitely take that out first.
- Safety first.
(laughing)
- Before you take the blade with you.
- There we go.
- Remove the blade.
- We don't want you to leave with a cut.
- Yes, I'm like,
we're going to leave with all digits still attached.
Now, once you've got your date mixture standing by,
we're going to add all of this toasted yumminess.
And you know your oats are ready
the moment you can start to smell them in the house.
- Yes.
- And you can take them out and they're ready.
- Now should I just pour that over there.
- Oh yeah, just dump it in.
- 'Cause this is hot.
- This is gonna be a job,
- Oh my gosh, wait, this is a job,
- for hand mixing.
- [Beth] Here we go.
There.
I don't want to spill all of your lovely
oats here.
- [Sara Lynn] All of the goodness.
- [Beth] Oh my gosh, all of the goodness.
Look at that.
And okay.
- Just before we give this a stir,
we're gonna add just a few more ingredients.
So for this I am using just some honey.
Some added sweetness, which I love.
If you wanted to keep these vegan
you could also do this with maple syrup.
No problem. - [Beth] Oh, great.
Now is honey not?
I guess not with bees.
- No.
- See what you learn.
This is so interesting.
- No, and it's debated
among the vegan community. - [Beth] It's debated.
- But no, so for sure, if you didn't want to use
honey in this recipe, you could definitely use
agave syrup or maple syrup.
- Okay, good to know.
- And them I'm also going to be adding some dried cherries.
You could use cranberries, raisins,
the possibilities are endless.
But for me, dried cherries are the best.
If you can find them, use them.
And then just a little bit of salt.
Because I love,
anyone who knows me knows salty-sweet
is my favorite thing in the world.
- Me too, I'm right there with you.
- And then
it's time
- Okay.
- to get into it.
- To get into it.
- Like, are you ready for this?
- Okay, go. (laughing)
- Okay, here we go.
This is a job for your hands.
This is not for the weak at heart.
Do not be afraid.
It's actually a great job for the kids.
If you have kids, let them do it.
- Oh, my daughters would love this.
They'd be all over that.
Too bad they're not here for this.
- You look like a swamp monster.
- [Beth] Oh my gosh, that does look like a swamp monster.
But you can see why you need to do that
with all these ingredients, I bet it's
just the best way to combine it.
- Absolutely.
No, doing this with a spoon,
forget it.
Like, forget it, you'll be there forever.
Just get in there with your hands,
don't be afraid,
plus then you have to press it into your pan anyways.
So you're gonna get your hands dirty.
So, we've got a parchment lined baking pan standing by.
We've also sprayed it with a little bit of cooking spray,
because we don't want things to stick.
This is sticky stuff, as you can see.
- It's serious business there.
- But it's good.
It's very good.
- Looks beautiful, sure does.
- [Sara Lynn] And then we are just gonna transfer it
to our dish.
Look at me, me and my
crazy swamp hands.
- [Beth] Looks just like a granola bar.
- [Sara Lynn] It does. - [Beth] It's looking very
promising, Sara Lynn.
(Sara Lynn laughing)
Not that I didn't have complete faith.
- Listen, Beth, I'm not gonna lie to you,
I have had some un-triumphant granola bar experiences
in my life. - [Beth] Oh my gosh,
okay, well let's hope that this time is triumphant.
- I do, I think that,
I feel really good about this particular recipe.
There's so much good stickiness happening.
I have made some granola bars in the past
that simply crumbled when I tried to cut into them.
I'm sure we've all been there.
- We've all had those snafus. - [Sara Lynn] So I'm like
good in theory, bad in execution.
But this one, this is gonna be just fine.
So we are just going to press and like,
just when you think you've pressed enough,
go ahead and press some more. - [Beth] Press again.
Okay, yeah. (Sara Lynn laughing)
'Cause you probably want it pretty dense to stick, right?
- Yes, that's exactly it.
And when we take these out to cut them,
you want to make sure that they're solid.
- [Beth] Well it looks beautiful.
- And now, I'm going to go wash my hands.
- Yeah, this probably isn't even gonna do it.
You really need to wash your hands.
We're gonna cut for a minute,
and we're gonna come back with clean hands.
One sec.
- Alright, so once your hands are clean,
you can pop this into the freezer
for 10-15 minutes.
You just want to let it set so that you can
actually cut it into bars.
Right? - [Beth] Alright.
- So into the freezer it goes.
- In we go, alright.
So, while we were waiting,
Sara Lynn and I just experimented with Periscope.
That's pretty fun.
- [Sara Lynn] Our first time ever.
I thought it was a success.
We managed to get something shot.
It was really fun, actually. - [Beth] We got something
out there.
So we decided we're gonna be on Periscope now.
- We're gonna do more of it.
So be sure to follow us both.
- [Beth] Right? - [Sara Lynn] Yeah.
- [Beth] We'll do more videos.
So, anyway.
Now our granola bars are done.
So now is the moment of truth.
- Through the magic of YouTube,
they have magically set within moments
and all we're going to do is turn them out.
Maybe.
Maybe we aren't going to turn them out.
Maybe we're going to run a knife
along the side of them first and then turn them out.
- [Beth] Yeah, they're really in there, that's great.
- [Sara Lynn] Well, I probably should have left
a little overhang of parchment paper to help lift them out.
But, lessons learned.
- Yes, kitchen's always good for that.
It's the best teacher.
- Well, I was telling Beth off camera
the number of times I have tried
to make granola bars that didn't work out
before I actually got them right.
It was pretty amazing.
- [Beth] Look at this!
I am completely convinced.
See, third time's a charm.
- And you can see just from the flexibility
how chewy and delicious they're going to be.
- [Beth] Yeah, look how perfect.
Oh my gosh, those are gorgeous.
That looks like one big granola bar.
- I know (laughing).
I know, what are you having for lunch?
- What are you having, Sara Lynn?
I'm good here.
This looks delicious.
- Alright, are we ready for the moment of truth?
- [Beth] Let's do it.
- [Sara Lynn] Let's cut these babies up.
Oh, how fantastic. - [Beth] Oh my gosh.
- [Sara Lynn] Alright,
see, and then we can just cut them
into whatever shapes you want.
I like these little serving-size granola bars.
- [Beth] Children portion, that's great.
My girls will love this.
- I know, right?
- [Beth] Mm-hmm.
- [Sara Lynn] Makes back to school slightly more tolerable.
- [Beth] It really does.
That is adorable.
- [Sara Lynn] Fantastic.
- [Beth] Wow.
See, for the next play date I can bust these out
and look very impressive.
- Exactly, look at my homemade granola bars.
- [Beth] They're so pretty, I love them.
- Nut free, allergen free, which is so great.
The kids will love them.
The grownups will love them.
- [Beth] Yeah, and raw.
- Well and the flavor possibilities.
- Yes.
- Dried blueberries, dried cranberries.
You could add some coconut.
Like, really endless.
- And if you wanted to be naughty,
you could add some chocolate chips.
- Oh yeah.
Yes you could.
- Alright, let's try these, these look so yummy.
Oh yum.
- Okay.
- [Beth] So good.
- Have breakfast on the go, my friends.
- [Beth] Mm-hmm. - Breakfast on the go.
That's really good!
- That's really good.
I have to say,
for the amount of honey and dates that are in here,
these are so much less sweet than
the kind you buy in the store.
- Mm-hmm.
- And they don't give you that headachy feeling.
- And no refined sugar, which is amazing.
- Mm-hmm, maybe that's why.
- Lot's of protein.
Chewy. - [Beth] Really stick
to your mouth.
(both giggling)
They're delicious. I love it.
- We need a chew pause.
It's amazing. - [Beth] I know.
- Some elevator music to play, (laughs)
- while we're chewing.
The other thing that I think is really good
are the tart cherries.
I think that also gives it a nice little,
interest.
- Everything is better with cherries, I think.
- I think you're right.
- Personally.
But, thank you so much, Beth,
for having me. - [Beth] You bet!
Thanks for being here.
And if you guys want some more delicious
back-to-school recipes, be sure to hit
the annotation, I'll put a link in the description,
and you can get caught up with all of
Sara Lynn's fabulous back-to-school recipes.
- [Both] Thank you.
- Alright, I'll see you guys back here next time,
where we're going to do our own back-to-school recipes.
So we'll see you then.
Bye!
(upbeat music)