Calmer Mornings and Chewy Apple-Almond Granola Bars

Bake over the weekend, gift yourself better breakfasts for a month

Granola bars, before slicing. | Photo by Hillary Dixler Canavan

Back-to-school season always makes me want to start fresh habits. It's the energy that I remember getting from a new planner and empty notebooks — the excitement that came from knowing new experiences were going to happen and the hope that I could reinvent myself and face the new school year different somehow. While I've been out of school long enough to know (if not intrinsically feel) that a new planner won't actually make me a new person, I do still find this time of year invigorating. It's not a coincidence that I started this newsletter in the middle of September.

Now that I'm a parent to a child who is in school, I've also got more than my own nostalgia fueling my back-to-school spirit. This year, my goal is to have calmer weekday mornings with my family. I don’t want the routine of getting up, getting fed, and getting out the door to feel like we’re climbing up a mountain before our day even begins. Since so much of the morning centers on the kitchen, I figured I’d do what I always do when I have a kitchen problem: Learn from and emulate the pros. And I'd love to hear what works for you in the comments!

Close the Kitchen Like a Chef Does

A well-run restaurant has a list of closing and opening duties for staff members. For a chef, closing duties might include labeling and putting all food back into the dry storage pantry or into the walk-in, wiping down counter tops, and sweeping and mopping.

"My brain will always be programmed as a production kitchen, so I do closing and opening in my home kitchen," says South Carolina-based pastry chef and this week's recipe contributor Justin Burke. "I cannot go to bed without cleaning the kitchen and making sure the dishes are done. I set up the coffee machine to be ready in the morning. I forecast what I need to do in the kitchen the next day." 

A kitchen that has been properly closed is one that is ready for you in the morning. For my family, that means there's clear and clean counter space to assemble breakfast and school lunch, a lunchbox ready to be packed, as well as a clean coffee maker and two coffee mugs waiting. When I'm really on the ball with my closing duties, I also leave myself with an empty dishwasher in the morning. 

Cook When It's Efficient, Not in the Morning

One of my favorite morning strategies is to keep a supply of sandwiches and other lunch mains in the freezer. Turkey and cheese on Hawaiian rolls. Bagels with cream cheese. Sunflower seed butter and jam on wheat bread. Waffle-ironed crescent rolls filled with ham and cheese. I make school lunches like these in large in batches, often when I’ve got dinner roasting in the oven or else over the weekend. Then I stick them into gallon-size freezer bags, suck as much air out as I can, and freeze them. In the morning before school, I’ll grab a lunch item from the freezer, and pop it while it’s still frozen into an individual baggie or container and put it into my daughter’s insulated lunch bag. (I like Stasher bags and snap-top containers for that job because my preschooler has no trouble opening them on her own.) Because the sandwiches are frozen, the container acts like an ice pack, keeping anything else I put in the lunch bag cold, while simultaneously defrosting in the ~4 hours the bag spends unrefrigerated on a shelf in my daughter’s classroom.

This freezer strategy works for breakfast food, too. Justin makes big batches of egg bites over the weekend, freezes them in 2-piece portions, and then just microwaves them on weekday mornings for his son and his husband. "During the week, having made things ahead is necessary," he says. "What are we going to do, wake up hours ahead to make sure people are fed? Cooking ahead is not a shortcut — it's efficiency." 

It’s okay if you, like me, can’t eyeball perfectly even bars. | Photo by Hillary Dixler Canavan

When I asked pastry chef and cookbook author Justin Burke to create a breakfast bar for The New Family Table, I did so because I wanted the "getting fed" part of the morning to be more delicious but not more complicated. I gave him some boundaries: It had to work as leftovers, since I knew I couldn't create a breakfast bar in the morning before school; it needed to be something I myself would want to eat (not just for kids); and it had to be an easy baking project, no special equipment or even special talent required. I knew Justin was the right baker for the task because pastry chefs are professional morning people, Justin’s food always strikes me as Americana comfort with a modern edge, and because he too is feeding a young child at home.

Justin’s chewy apple-almond granola bars are a quick weekend baking project that makes your kitchen smell like autumn — cue all the back-to-school feelings. The recipe is also an amazing template for trying other flavor combinations — they were fantastic when I made them with SunButter, and I’m definitely going to try it with pumpkin puree next. These homemade granola bars are designed to be served from the fridge, so they are perfect for busy mornings, whether you eat one for breakfast or pack one in a lunch bag for a school snack.

Here's what Justin has to say about his recipe: "These chewy apple-almond granola bars bring a hint of fall with warm spices and apples that appeal to all ages. Toasting the oats first adds a deep, nutty flavor that perfectly balances the honey and spices. The natural sweetness of the almond butter blends well with the applesauce, apple chips, and dried cranberries, creating a bar that's earthy, subtly sweet, and a little tart." 

Please let Justin and me know if you make the recipe by sharing your results in Table Chat and tagging us on Instagram: @hillarydixlercanavan and @JustinTSBurke. Happy baking! 

A quick note on how this recipe is formatted: I’m experimenting with formatting recipes in a way that makes it even easier to get cooking. In this case, I've grouped the ingredients in the ingredient list to minimize the number of bowls you're dirtying. I’m also including metric measurements for all baking recipes — if you like to bake and haven’t already done so, consider getting a kitchen scale and using weighted measurements for more accuracy and ease. I will continue to assess formatting for The New Family Table’s original recipes and would love to hear from readers about any recipe style conventions you find especially user-friendly. Sound off in the comments!

Recipe: Chewy Apple-Almond Granola Bars by Justin Burke

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups (285 g) old-fashioned oats

In a medium, heatproof mixing bowl:
⅔ cup (85 g) dried cranberries (go for sweetened, which are easier to find)
½ cup (70 g) unsweetened apple chips, roughly chopped or broken by hand
2½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1½ teaspoons ground ginger

In a microwave safe bowl:
⅔ cups (200 g) almond butter
⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon(145 g) honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup (270 g) unsweetened applesauce

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Spray an 8x8-inch square pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides for easy removal. Set aside.

In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the oats and toast, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until evenly golden brown and fragrant. Transfer oats to the mixing bowl with the dried cranberries, apple chips, cinnamon, and ginger. Stir to combine with a wooden or silicone spoon.

Microwave the bowl of almond butter, honey, and vanilla on high for 30 seconds, carefully remove, and whisk until smooth (you can use a fork or a small whisk). 

Pour the almond butter mixture over the oat mixture. Add the applesauce and stir until the mixture is evenly combined and has a wet, cookie-dough-like consistency.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan. Use an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to spread it evenly.

Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the top is set and the edges are lightly golden.

Remove from the oven and cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Once cooled, lightly cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, overnight preferred, to set. Once set, use the parchment overhang to lift the bars out of the pan. Cut into bars and serve, or store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Storage: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month. Serve cold right from the fridge. If frozen, put the bar(s) in the fridge overnight to thaw and serve in the morning, or microwave for 15-30 seconds to defrost.

Notes:

• If you prefer not to use a microwave, warm the almond butter, honey, and vanilla mixture in a small saucepan over medium-low heat for about 1 minute, whisking until just warm (do not boil).

• There are plenty of steps that would be easy to include a child in. Young helpers might enjoy assisting in measuring (and smelling) spices and helping stir the mix together, while older helpers might stir the oats while they toast (with supervision) and press the mixture into the pan.

Swaps and Add-ins:

• This works great with SunButter, which is especially helpful for nut-free families (or for sending with lunch at nut-free schools). You can also swap in peanut butter or another nut butter.

• Instead of applesauce, try pumpkin puree. If using pumpkin puree, consider adding ⅔ cup of brown sugar.

• Instead of cinnamon and ginger, you can use 2-3 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice mix. 

• If you want a sweeter bar, add ⅓ cup white chocolate chips along with the applesauce. If you’re using pumpkin puree, try mini chocolate chips.

Justin Burke is a food writer, recipe developer, queer food activist, and award-winning pastry chef, soon debuting his cookbook Potluck Desserts: Joyful Recipes to Share with Pride in Spring 2025. He lives in Columbia, SC with his husband and son—follow him on Instagram!

An easier morning because a delicious breakfast was just waiting in the fridge. | Photo by Hillary Dixler Canavan