Is this how the Clif Bar came to be?

Dear Clif (Bar),
While I have been known to enjoy your company over the past seven-ish years, I'm afraid that our time together is coming to an end. You see, I have found another. No...that's not quite right.

I have created another.

While I do appreciate that you use organic ingredients when possible, and that you aim to reconstruct deconstructed food into nutritionally balanced bars for an optimal exercise experience, you are a far cry from perfect. Your extensive ingredients list, disposable package, long shelf life, and the slight tackiness you leave on my fingers set my mind adrift. Hopefully we can stay friends. I'm sure I'll enjoy your company casually in the near future.

Love,
Lea


The inspiration for this recipe came from, of all places, Jim Fobel's Old Fashioned Baking Book. I found an old copy of the book and was wooed by the romantic idea of baking the treats my grandmother probably enjoyed. The book has an inspiring introduction about Jim's Finnish grandmother who raised her family of seven on the shores of Lake Erie in the early 1900s, baking both a cake and a pie every day of the week.

With history like that, how could I go wrong? I have Scandinavian roots. These are the recipes of my people! So I started out with Grandma's Oatmeal Cookies. Its subtitle is: "This is surely one of the oldest recipes in this book. It makes a lovely light, flavorful cookie. Whenever I'm in the mood for an old-fashioned cookie, this is what I crave." All of this seemed promising. I was, after all, trying to find old-fashioned.

Then I read down the list of ingredients. 1.5c oats...1 c flour... 1.5c butter...1 egg...3/4 c brown sugar... and I started to get curious about how this compared to the Betty Crocker recipe in my 1996-edition New Cookbook. So I read down that list of ingredients. 3c oats...1c flour...2 c butter...2 eggs...1.33 c total sugar...

Confusion reigned. In the new recipe: twice the oats, same flour, twice the eggs, not much more butter, almost twice the sugar. These recipes are nothing alike!! They will produce very different results! The only way to do this right is to make both!

So I threw caution to the wind and... used whole wheat flour. I was (now) going for a nutty graham-like oatmeal cookie. I wanted saltiness to stand up to the chocolate chips, and cinnamon to pair with the nutty whole wheat.

Good intentions for a good cookie took a nosedive near the world of health-conscious food. In tweaking the BC recipe, I accidentally left out half the fat. I didn't miss it at all, didn't even realize it was gone until I went to write the recipe down. Fortunately they don't share any of the negative qualities typically associated with healthy foods. Plus they keep well, or at least they keep well for as long as you can keep them around.



and I will call them...


Cliffhangers
2/3 c. packed dark brown sugar
1/2 stick butter
1/2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 1/2 c oats
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 (generous) cup chocolate chips and chunks

Preheat oven to 350F.

I creamed the butter with the brown sugar, then added the egg and beat for another minute. Scraped everything together, added all the dry ingredients except the oats. Mixed for another minute on medium speed. I didn't want to develop the gluten, but this is less of a concern with whole wheat flour. Scraped everything together, added the oats and chocolate chips, then dropped them on an unlined, ungreased sheet to bake. I used bits and pieces of chocolate- some of which was little shavings that were the dregs from a chocolate-chopping session from a bobka baking. The little shavings got well-dispersed. You could just shave a small square of chocolate into the batter for a subtle hint of chocolatey goodness throughout.

They're moist and chewy, with a bit of toothiness. Satisfying. Not too sweet, not too buttery. Slightly nutty. Mission accomplished- these will be made again. Next time, I might try adding a bit of water to the batter to soften up the oats. That would be a good trick to steal from Jim Fobel's grandmother.
She puts in 1T.

You might want to double the recipe if you're baking for more than just yourself.