Lehighton girl takes a first prize at Carbon County fair with homemade granola bars

Amanda Steigerwalt is a very pretty, very shy young lady.

Good thing her Hershey's Chewy Granola Bars speak for themselves.

Amanda, who turned 10 on Labor Day, is the winner of the Carbon County Fair Hershey's Cocoa Classic Baking Contest Cookies, Brownies and Bars division for those 8 to 18 years of age. The fair was held last month near Palmerton.

Her homemade granola bars are delicious and it is no surprise she won a first place ribbon, as well as the Hershey's First Prize Ribbon. Amanda will recreate her recipe in January for the state Farm Show, where her granola bars will compete with creations from children across the state.

Amanda is the granddaughter of Allen and Aileen Steigerwalt of Lehighton, with whom she lives. She is also the daughter of Nicole Steigerwalt of Pottsville.

Aileen, who is her stepgrandmother, is teaching Amanda about the home arts, such as cooking and crafting. She wants her to be able to do everything for herself when she grows up.

"She is learning to do everything a child can do," says Aileen. "My goal is for her to be self-sufficient and go to college, and have a well-educated life. I want to live to see her graduate from college."

Aileen says Amanda is also learning to sew, using a small sewing machine that was a gift from her great-grandmother.

This is Amanda's first year to bake and enter items in the fair, and she did quite well.

In addition to top honors in the baking contest, she won first place ribbons for a set of plastic canvas coasters and a cross-stitch; second place ribbons for a pillow with a Volkswagen on it, and a mixed media frog scene; and a participation ribbon for a papier-m'ché mask.

When she is not cooking or crafting, the Franklin Elementary School fourth-grader likes to work on her computer; play video games; ride her bike, skateboard and scooter; and is a Girl Scout. She loves her cat, Nibbles, and also likes to go to Maine, where they visit family, and where Aileen got the recipe for the Chewy Granola Bars.

She says it came from a friend of hers, who got it from an old Hershey cookbook.

"It's a very healthy recipe," says Aileen. "It has lots of fiber."