Oh, that recipe sounds yummy!

You can make your own sweetened condensed milk using less sugar.

Nestle makes a SCM with 50% less sugar in the La Lechera line but it might be almost impossible to find unless you have access to a Hispanic supermarket. Alternatively, Amazon has it but it is ridiculously pricey. Linking so you can see what the label looks like:

Nestle Less Sweet La Lechera Sweetened Condensed Milk

The recipe is just condensed milk, not sweetened. The sweet comes from any additions you choose. (dried fruits)

So where in this great country (USA) would one find condensed milk that is NOT sweetened? ? ? I'm really curious about this, as I have never heard of unsweetened condensed milk.

With the recipe in weight measurements, it does say condensed. But if you switch it to measurements in cups, it says "sweetened condensed". So I'm wondering if the recipe originated somewhere besides the USA. Guess I'll go back and explore that website a bit.

Rusty

Doesn't make sense as that would be sick sweet. Mentions...

"Mind you, they are just like milk and cereal in bar form, so there's nothing to stop you nibbling at one with your morning coffee at home every day."

Rusty, Nigella is in the UK. I agree though, I have never seen condensed milk that was not sweetened, that is usually evaporated milk.

SND, In a 9 x 13 pan, I am not sure that it would come out sickingly sweet, but probably sweeter than I want. For my family, if I use coconut milk, I would likely have to add at least a bit of sweetener. I only purchase sweetened condensed milk for making dulce de leche and I mainly do that during apple season.

You really won't know unless you give it a try, but I think it sounds like coconut milk would make a good substitute. I use powdered coconut milk and can mix it to any thickness, or ratio of water to powder, I'd like. The same goes for using powdered milk - you can make it double (two times the amount of milk powder) or triple (three times the amount of milk powder) strength to use as a substitute for evaporated or "condensed" canned milk.

If you do try it, let us know how it turns out because I think I would like it with coconut milk, OR with homemade coconut milk kefir (maybe even better ;-). I would use coconut palm syrup, maple syrup, or Lyle's Golden Syrup in the recipe for the sweetener (about 1/4-cup). I think it needs to be a "sticky" sweetener to hold it together.

This is a breakfast cookie recipe I use a lot that has a number of the same ingredients, and probably more protein than the Breakfast Bars recipe by Nigella:

PUMPKIN BREAKFAST COOKIES

http://leelalicious.com/pumpkin-breakfast-cookies/

Changes I make in the recipe: I use coconut palm syrup instead of honey, and I use a 50/50 blend of flax and chia seeds (ground in a coffee/spice mill) instead of flaxmeal alone.

-Grainlady

This blogger makes the Nigella recipe and uses sweetened condensed milk.
Just As Delish

Same here:

Simple Nourished Living

And here is Nigella's Breakfast Bars 2.0 which do not use sweetened condensed milk; the sweetening comes from dates:

Nigella Breakfast Bars 2.0

In the US, when condensed milk is called for in a recipe, so far as I know, they always, always mean sweetened condensed milk, aka, Eagle Brand.

(Condensed milk is NOT evaporated milk. Two different things and not to be used interchangeably.)

Sweetened condensed milk is available in the UK...Carnation is one brand available there.

Without a sweet component (assuming dried, unsweetened cranberries and unsweetened coconut), the recipe would be pretty dreadful, IMO. If the cranberries & coconut you're using are sweetened, then I would use or make a less-sweet condensed milk.

Sleevendog, where do you buy unsweetened condensed milk??

There is no such thing as unsweetened condensed milk. But I keep praying. Anyway, Nigella's recipe yields 16 servings, so it wouldn't kill you . . . right away.

But you could use just enough of the SCM to bind the ingredients together. Or combine equal parts sweetened condensed milk with rich and thick coconut cream (not coconut milk, which is thinner in consistency).

Edit: I forgot to add, that if you go the site and click on "Cups," it'll mention 'sweetened condensed milk.'

Sol

Nothing wrong with having a candy bar for breakfast. Think danish and lots of sweet breakfast things. Just surprised at calling it 'just like cereal with milk'...and comments like 'looking forward to more of your healthy recipes'.

I was wrong seeing the comment to maybe use a glove to spread it as it is sticky...

Kinda like sending a kid off to school with a couple rice crispy treats instead of cereal and milk. Not the same. Or putting a tbsp of sugar on cereal.

Granola bars need a binder like a sugar but some use some dried fruit, also a sugar. Some use a nut butter or chia or a gelatin that binds.

Condensed milk is cow's milk from which water has been removed. It is most often found in the form of sweetened condensed milk (SCM), with sugaradded, and the two terms "condensed milk" and "sweetened condensed milk" are often used synonymously today.[1] Sweetened condensed milk is a very thick, sweet product which when canned can last for years without refrigeration if unopened. Condensed milk is used in numerous dessert dishes in many countries.[2]

A related product is evaporated milk, which has undergone a more complex process and which is not sweetened.[3] Evaporated milk is known in some countries as unsweetened condensed milk.[4]

Yes, sleevendog, but the only countries that we're concerned with for this discussion is the US and the UK. When I do a search for 'condensed milk' at Tesco, a British supermarket chain, the condensed milk offerings are all sweetened. Carnation Brand and Tesco store brand. So, I think that it is safe to assume that Nigella's recipe is calling for sweetened condensed milk, aka, Eagle Brand and not what we in the US (and the British, apparently, gauging from the search results) refer to as evaporated milk.

No argument . Not an issue at all. But why call it just like 'cereal and milk'. That was all that confused me. I really don't care. I'm heading to an out-port where i spend vacation time and we have Dutch and English canned creams that are not sweet...so when i saw weight in grams i thought 'european' as i get....

On another note, i'm not sure coconut milk or coconut cream will work without the 'binder' that sugars do.

Hundreds of super granola bars on the net that don't use canned sugars.

I thought it was interesting, for a minute.

You can certainly buy NON sweetened condensed milk in the UK and Europe and usually if the recipe calls for sweetened, it will say so in the recipe so suppose that is the unsweetened that she's using. I'm sure the fruit makes it sweet enough.

Can you point me to the unsweetened condensed milk, Islay? Because I would love to buy some. Who makes it?

In the US, we can buy condensed milk; it is always sweetened condensed milk. Or we can buy evaporated milk which is non-sweet. Condensed milk here is thick, sticky, almost pudding like. Evaporated milk is much thinner with a consistency slightly thicker than regular milk.

Maybe an international market will have it. Carnation makes it. Mine is from Holland. It is thick, not sweetened, but used for desserts like scones and tarts. Very common everywhere but here in the states. It is thick enough that it stays on a spoon but not as thick as mayo. Like an English clotted cream.

In a no-guts-no-glory moment, I made a 1/2 recipe this morning with these alterations:

1. I used Native Forest Coconut Milk Powder - 1/2 c. powder and enough hot water to equal 7-oz. of liquid (which is almost a 1:2 ratio for a concentrated version, while the normal use is 1:5). I added 2 T. Lyle's Golden Syrup to the liquid which was plenty of sweetener.

2. I used sprouted/dried buckwheat instead of sesame seeds along with pepitas (green pumpkin seeds - sprouted and dehydrated) and unsalted sunflower seeds.

3. Next time I would add a 1/8 t. of salt (a little salt make things taste sweeter), and possibly some vanilla, and cinnamon or nutmeg would also be nice add-ins.

4. I used dried blueberries instead of cranberries, but as others posted in the comments after the recipe, any dried fruit would work. If you use dried apricots, I would cut them into 1/4" bits using a pair of sharp kitchen scissors. If using dried apricots, I think almonds (lightly chopped or sliced) would work nice instead of peanuts, and perhaps a small amount of almond extract.

5. The peanuts (I used unsalted dry roasted) over-powered the flavor of the other ingredients, but it was still tasty. I consider peanuts a stand-alone flavor, more-or-less, or in combination with chocolate or cacao nibs (which would also be nice in this recipe).

Overall, very good, and I'd probably make them again and use it as a base recipe and change the fruit and nuts/seeds for variation, and may even try some almond flour in the recipe instead of the peanuts, or even some powdered peanut butter (regular or chocolate-flavored). Down side, 1-hour of baking time and I will bake them in the Solar Oven the next time. I made 1/2 a recipe so I could bake them in my Convection/Microwave Oven.

I like the Pumpkin Breakfast Cookie recipe I posted above more than this recipe, probably because I like spicy pumpkin baked goods. And as we all know, "taste" is subjective..... ;-) If you're a peanut-lover, you'll like the Breakfast Bars recipe.

-Grainlady

Grainlady, thank you for reporting on your trials with it. I am definitely interested in adapting it towards the normal contents of my pantry. The 1 hour of baking time definitely gave me pause but I have some past their prime winter squashes that I will cook at the same time for the chickens and I also have some potatoes I could throw in the oven at the same time as I rarely use the oven for just one thing at a time. I am leaning towards using a bit of maple syrup with the coconut milk.

I know that Nestle also makes a canned "crema" or table cream for the Hispanic market and it could be interesting to play with as well as I thought it could be good to have in the pantry. I have to see if the stores in my small town carry it and if not, there is a good chance I could find some on my next trip to Albuquerque. If the recipe works out for us, in the future I will probably make a double batch and freeze some. We are a family of 6 so I have plenty of people to eat them. I am thinking of dried kiwi and blueberries for the first batch.

ETA: I will look at the pumpkin breakfast cookies again in the fall. They sound good but I think my freezer is all out of homegrown pumpkin. Although, I probably need to see if there are any good ones in the garage still that I can roast and mill.

Good recipes...the breakfast cookie and the links. Her original cookie is not pumpkin spiced. Much better options than ten years ago when i tried a few strange recipes. Nut flours, coconut milk flour. Good seeds and nut butters.

I've been working on one for a year now and getting close. Based on three purchased bars i like. Based on a reese cup. Without the powdered sugar most recipes us to thicken the center nut butter. Coming out more like truffles but that's not such a bad thing. Tiny bites. Using many of Grainlady's ingredients.

Using milk or coconut milk powders will give you the thick consistency needed with a bit of sweet like honey or maple syrup or a date/dried fruit puree.

Not sure when our condensed milk left the shelves. Probably in the early 50's. Or when did it became heavily sweetened?. I'm sure the history is somewhere. Early adds and cans say condensed milk. Initially it was not sweetened. Confusion maybe? I have a can in the pantry that was bought by mistake. The sweet one.

This is the one from Holland...old can, new can, same cream. Old can says condensed, new can says thick cream.

Yes, it is confusing. And not helped by TV cooks like Nigella who aren't specific enough in the recipes they publish. She really should have said 'sweetened condensed milk' rather than leave it to the reader to try to sort out intent. Which is usually easy enough for an experienced baker to do. Not so much for the beginner or the occasional cook.

Now, about the Fussell's products in the pix. The vintage stuff is sweetened condensed milk, like what is used for Key Lime Pie. The Creme Epaisse is thick cream...like Nestle's La Crema...something that you might use to make Spaghetti Carbonara. I disagree that those two cans represent the same product.

From what I gathered from reading online, Fussell's is part of the Nestle/ Carnation conglomerate and at least some of the Fussell's branded products (the sweetened condensed product, in particular) have been replaced/ relabeled as Carnation--this according to UK sources.

So, we're really talking about three separate categories of canned dairy products.

Evaporated milk (which is non-sweet), sweetened condensed milk (thick, syrupy) and canned cream (non-sweet.) I have some of each in my pantry. Each have specific uses although there is some overlap between uses of (plain) evaporated milk and canned cream. IOW's, in a pinch or if I'm shaving calories, I'll substitute evaporated milk for canned cream.

Yes, it IS freaking confusing!

Ci-lantro, here it's made by Gloria.

Confusing, yup, but getting somewhere. Also had no idea you can make butter with LaCrema.

...had no idea this link would post like this. Maybe Fussel's and Crema are the same thing...or similar.

So Fussel's had two different cans back in the day.(?) My neighbor has used it forever. Never sweet, just the slight sweetness of the cream (milk). She is 90. I'd ask but her accent is thick. I'll ask her daughter...

A little more investigation and I find that the Fussel's sweetened condensed milk is now Carnation Light Condensed Milk (made with skimmed milk). Vs the regular Carnation SCM made with whole milk. Yes, Fussel's had (at least) two different products, the sweetened condensed milk and canned cream--no doubt, as you say, much like la Crema. Fussel's may have had more products but I haven't found any references to any others.

Islay, I looked at the Gloria products page and they offer evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, sterilized cream, and milk in aseptic pkgs.

Unsweetened condensed milk is a redundant term. It is simply evaporated milk.

Evaporated Milk & Sweetened Condensed Milk--What's the Difference

Could that be what is sold here as Table Cream?

So isn't what you want unsweetened evaporated milk? Or am I completely off the mark here? LOL Probably.........

You can also make your own if you can't find what you want.

I had a milk crisis recently and used Meyenberg evaporated goat's milk for a béchamel recently and it was fabulous! Not goaty and very rich.

I agree with Ci_lantro on the three kinds of products. I remember in my early childhood my mother explaining the difference between evaporated milk (pure milk, less water), condensed milk (sweetened and thickened (also less water)) and canned milk or cream (just plain milk or cream). According to Wikipedia, however, the condensed name goes way back in history, for both sweetened and unsweetened. Evaporated milk goes really weird pretty fast. The sugar is added to the condensed milk as a preservative, and way extends the shelf life. When I was visiting South Florida, I heard all about how there didn't used to be cows there, or refrigeration, so milk just wasn't a thing, except for the canned sweetened condensed milk that became part of the key lime pie.

When I was visiting South Florida, I heard all about how there didn't used to be cows there, or refrigeration, so milk just wasn't a thing, except for the canned sweetened condensed milk that became part of the key lime pie.

Yes, but that was only in the keys. Cows were the main income source for the American settlers in mainland FL. That and coontie (arrowroot)

I'm so glad you mentioned that, though. It always drives me crazy that everyone thinks graham cracker crust is traditional for a key lime pie. It's totally not, since they also had no butter. They used a regular ol' lard crust in the old days and in my childhood, too. Graham cracker didn't come in till it became popular elsewhere, like for the infamous grasshopper pie in the 70s. Ditto the whipped cream. A real key lime pie has meringue. They did have chickens.

I have made these many times, particularly for my gluten-free friends:

Chewy Nut and Cereal Bars

1 1/2 C. sliced almonds (4 1/2 oz.) 1 T. vegetable oil 1/3 C. sesame seeds 3 C. Rice Krispies 1/3 C. honey 1 C. roasted, salted ashes, coarsely 3 T. Light Brown sugar chopped 3 large egg whites

Toast almonds 3 min. 350 degrees. Add sesame seeds and toast 2 -3 min. more. Reduce temp to 325. Stir together honey, brown sugar and oil in small saucepan. Heat over low heat stirring until sugar dissolves. Stir together cereal and nuts in large bowl. Beat egg whites with 1/4 tsp. salt 1 -2 min. till frothy (I do a little longer) Stir honey mixture in nuts, then egg whites* Spread in 9" square pan. Bake 30 - 35 min. (In my oven 33 min.) *Sometimes at this point I add a handful of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips. I take paper towel spread it over top and press mixture down and compact before baking.. Cut into ten bars....5 across and then halved. I wrap each in plastic wrap and freeze.

NOTE: Oil pan and line with parchment paper.

I made the breakfast bars with a can of coconut milk and 1/4 c grade B maple syrup. The milk may have been a bit too thin as they were a bit too "moist." However, I wonder if I should have warmed the milk a bit more than I did to help the oats absorb it. I used a combo of seeds (hemp, sesame, chia, and sunflower), for the nuts I used walnuts and for the fruit dried kiwi and blueberries. My 2 youngest kids were not impressed. The oldest 2 and DH enjoyed them. If I make a double batch next time, I may try using a can of coconut cream and a can of coconut milk to get a better consistency.

The Wal-Mart in my itty-bitty town does carry La lechera and Nestle's crema. Price-wise, the coconut milk actually comes out ahead. While I am intrigued with the idea of the powdered coconut milk, looking at the cost at Vitacost, it seems to me that the cans of coconut milk are cheaper, but I may look into it further in the future.

Georgysmom, that recipe looks good but I have not seen gluten free Rice Krispies around here in a while. I used to find them easily but it has been over a year since I have seen them and I am not exactly sure why. I used to make peanut butter Rice Krispies treats for some GF teens in my circle.

Tishtosh, thanks for the report!

Next time, since you're warming the coconut milk anyway, you can easily condense/evaporate it yourself (unless that's what coconut cream is? (I'm allergic so clueless on that point)). If you want the oats to absorb more/better, you can stir them in first and let them soak up some of the coconut milk before you add the rest of the ingredients.

Writersblock, many thanks for the complete info. I've only been to Florida the once, but Key lime pie was also made here, brought by people who'd come from Florida one assumes. Probably made with Mexican limes, which are pretty similar if not the same. As you said, it had white flour crust (can't comment on the shortening--I assume also lard, though maybe vegetable) and meringue. The Key lime pie I had in the keys was even better. Nothing like getting it from the experts at the source. :) I was shocked once, just as you say, post-grasshopper pie era, to be served something called "Key" that was this hideous dark green (one assumes Persian limes) and had graham cracker crust and whipped cream. I said, "that's not Key lime pie" and sent it back. It might have been good, but I was too let down to try. Interesting about the cow economy in Florida. I'm beginning to think maybe someone said something about that when I was there, the more I think on it, but I really didn't know at all. I was about to ask questions, but don't want to go on a tangent of a tangent so I'll just look it all up.

I was about to ask questions, but don't want to go on a tangent of a tangent so I'll just look it all up.

Feel free to start another thread.

And Mexican limes aren't really much like the true key lime, which aggregates more sour in a smaller amount of juice than anything short of battery acid. It's the only substance that can successfully offset the sweetness of the sweetened condensed milk. I'm always puzzled when I see local chefs using key lime for other things like dressing fish, because they're really inedible for almost any other purpose.

Georgy'smom, if you are making those for your gluten free friends, don't use regular Rice Krispies, as they are not gluten free. They can and usually do contain malt/barley, which contains gluten plus they are manufactured in a facility that utilizes a LOT of wheat in other cereals. So, if your friends are allergic to wheat, or only gluten-sensitive, they may be able to eat regular Rice Krispies. A person with celiac disease cannot.

There is a gluten free Rice Krispie but I've never seen it here. I understand it's made of brown rice, and that the consistency is different. There are several puffed rice cereals by various manufacturers that are gluten free and they can be used instead.

Annie

Tishtoshnm-

The powdered coconut milk I used mixes best with hot water, so the liquid was fairly hot after mixing (since the recipe indicated a hot liquid) when I added it to the dry ingredients. We had the last of the bars crumbled over homemade coconut milk kefir Saturday morning for breakfast due to the crumbling texture of the bars. We didn't particularly like the rubbery peanuts at the end and I think that happens due to the low baking temperature. If I made them again I would increase the temperature to 325°.

-Grainlady

Georgysmom - what are (from you recipe) 1 C. roasted, salted ashes, coarsely.

Nancy, I'm guessing they might be cashews.

Annie, the gluten free Rice Krispies were discontinued. According to a blogger who said she had verified it with the manufacturer and also per the listing on Amazon.

Regarding Rice Krispies, I've purchased Barbara's Brown Rice Crisps recently. They're very similar to Rice Krispies and are labeled "Gluten Free." I serve them to my gluten sensitive granddaughters when they spend the night. And I actually snack on them (dry or with just a bit of cream) sometimes when I'm watching TV at night. I've been hoping to make the Rice Krispies treats with them too.

Barbara's Brown Rice Crisps