Granola candy

I’ve been experimenting with candy making for several months to a year now.  When I say candy making I’m referring to the complicated things you can do with sugar, not like chocolatiering, which is what you find more examples of in the candy aisle in the grocery store or the gas station.  In most candy making you need a starch so you are not just eating sugar, although the just sugar form is popular in caramels and hard candies or something else you would have had in church as a kid.  I’ve used popcorn and various types of store bought cereals.  It occurred to me that if I used oatmeal I would have something similar to granola.

Ingredients:

• 1 C Light Karo syrup
• 1/2 C Butter
• 1 C White Sugar
• 1/2 C Bootstrap Molasses
• 15 Large Marshmallows
• 6 C Oatmeal
• 2 C Crisp Rice
• 2 C Dry Roasted Peanuts

Instructions:

1. Pour cereal, oatmeal, and peanuts into large bowl you can mix in.  Set aside for later.
2. Over medium heat melt butter in medium saucepan.
3. Add Karo syrup, white sugar, and molasses.
4. While stirring, mix thoroughly and bring to a boil.
5. Allow to boil for approximately a minute, allowing sugars to candy, stirring to keep from burning to bottom of pan.
6. Remove from heat add marshmallows, allowing them to melt into mixture.
7. Stirring will help melt marshmallows, and it is your goal to incorporate them into the other sugars as a homogeneous mixture.
8. Let sugars cool for approximately 5 minutes.
9. Pour sugars over bowl containing cereals and nuts.
10. Stir until starches and sugars are well mixed.
11. Divide in 2 and pour each half onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
12. Place cookie sheets in preheated 325 degree oven.
13. Cook for 18 minutes rotating position at the halfway point.
14. Remove from oven, allowing bars to cool.
15. When bars are fully cooled they will crack like peanut brittle and you will not be able to cut them.  In order to stop the inevitable for a more desired conclusion, while bars are still somewhat hot score/cut bars into portions.  Then you will be able to tear them apart when they are cooled.