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Table Scraps: Gorp Bars Taste 'Better Than They Look'

Photo by LYNN KESSEL

There are a bazillion recipe possibilities for gorp, a high-energy snack that's long been consumed by athletes, especially hikers, bikers and mountain climbers. This recipe calls for granola, nonfat dry milk and nuts "glued" together with syrup, peanut butter and melted chocolate chips. The result is ooey, gooey, peanut-buttery and chocolaty, but not overly sweet.

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 27, 2008

Most kids like to make stuff; it's even more fun if they can eat it. And my 8-year-old granddaughter is no exception.

Arriving Aug. 2 with her mother for their annual two-week visit from Texas, Taylor brought along a backpack filled with "snackies." Her stash included mostly healthy items, including several bags of trail mix.

I thought it might be fun for us to make granola together on the last day of her visit so she and her mom could have something to munch on during their 1,200-mile pilgrimage home.

But Taylor had just spent the previous 48 hours at Disney and Universal Studios riding the Tower of Terror, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and Space Mountain. Making granola didn't exactly sound like an "eTicket attraction."

The morning they were about to leave, a throwback from my days in Camp Fire Girls came to mind - ooey, gooey gorp bars. They would be perfect for several reasons, I thought. There are few ingredients. There's no baking involved, and a bowl and wooden spoon are about all the tools needed. Plus, the gorp concoction isn't sickeningly sweet.

Gorp (aka good old raisins and peanuts or granola, oats, raisins and peanuts) is a mixture of dried fruit, seeds, nuts and chocolate chips used as high-energy food for athletes, particularly hikers, bikers and mountain climbers. The snack can be "a sweet and crunchy ball, smooth bar, or a simple grab bag of chocolate goodies," said Backpacker magazine in May 2001. It has been around since at least the late 1960s.

There are a bazillion recipe possibilities, but mine calls for granola, nonfat dry milk and nuts "glued" together with syrup, peanut butter and melted chocolate chips.

I gathered the ingredients and set them on the island in my kitchen. Judging from Taylor's enthusiasm, she was definitely intrigued and didn't need any prodding to get her started.

She grinned as I handed her an apron, which was too big. Underneath she was wearing her Tinker Bell pajamas, a Disney souvenir that read, "Life is a bowl of cherries."

The child was ready - and accessorized - to cook.

First, and without being told, I might add, she walked over to the sink and washed her hands, a lesson she said her class had learned from a field trip to a culinary school during summer camp. Grandma Lynn was impressed.

It took about an hour or so to make the granola, which would later be added to our gorp bar recipe.

I smiled as Taylor measured, stirred and cleaned up the oats that flew out of the bowl as she mixed. She was so intent on doing a good job, and she looked adorable.

Then it was time to chop the walnuts.

She was old enough to use a small knife that fit inside her small hand, but she was having a difficult time pushing through each walnut. So I demonstrated how to use a rocking motion for easier chopping, rather than sawing it in half. She easily got the hang of it.

A safe starting exercise for budding chefs is to let them chop mushrooms with a butter knife. It's a good way to learn some of the basics of chopping and knife handling.

When the bars were ready, we did a taste test, of course. I thought they were peanut-buttery and chocolaty, but not overly sweet.

Taylor's stamp of approval included the simple yet rather accurate comment, "Mmm, these are good." Then she added: "And they taste a lot better than they look."

Look out, Rachael Ray and Paula Deen, there's an up-and-coming, young chef named Taylor growing up in Texas, and she is packing a mean wooden spoon!

GORP BARS

1 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

11/2 cups peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup nonfat dry milk

2 cups granola

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup chocolate chips

Combine syrup, sugar and salt in saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in peanut butter and remove from heat. Add vanilla, dry milk and granola; then mix well. Gently fold in chocolate chips to create a swirl effect as they will melt. Press mixture into 13-by-9-by-2-inch pan. Chill for 30 minutes. Cut into squares. Chill 30 minutes longer. Makes 24 treats.

Lynn Kessel can be reached at lkessel@mac.com or P.O. Box 913, Ruskin FL 33575-0913. For more of her recipes, visit southshore .tbo.com and enter the search words: Lynn Kessel. Readers are encouraged to send in their favorite recipes, comments and suggest

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