Today after school we’re heading for a walk around a local lake. Yesterday the kids played hard at the park. Spring has (finally in PA) sprung, and it feels good to get outside as a family. I’m excited to introduce hiking this year to the kids. With the youngest having just turned four, I’m ready to start blazing trails at the state park this summer. Thinking healthy snacks and granola, I made this Musselman’s recipe last weekend and am anxious to try others such as Oatmeal cookies (perfect for trail blazing) or these Frosted Apple Sauce Raisin Bars. As a proud Musselman’s ambassador with a picky eating daughter who luckily loves applesauce, I’ve been baking with Musselman’s applesauce for a while now and love it as a healthy baking alternative. Check out this comparison between vegetable oil and Musselman’s Natural Applesauce:

And the yummy recipe I made last weekend, re-printed with permission from Musselmans.com:

 

Cherry Almond Granola Bars a la Mode

Ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup butter, chilled and cut up
• 2 cups regular rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 2/3 cup slivered almonds
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon flax seed meal
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon almond extract or vanilla
• 1 21-ounce can ® Cherry Pie Filling
• Frozen lowfat vanilla yogurt

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large food processor* combine the oats, brown sugar, flours, almonds, flax, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Cover and process until mixture resembles cornmeal. Add the butter and almond extract; cover and pulse until mixture is fine and starts to cling together.

2. Pat 3 cups of the mixture firmly into the bottom of an ungreased 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Spoon pie filling over mixture in pan, spreading evenly. Crumble remaining oat mixture evenly over pie filling.

3. Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden and filling is bubbly. Serve warm or cool with frozen yogurt.

* If food processor bowl is small, process mixture half at a time.

Servings: 24

Cooking Time:30 minutes

Cool Tip