Now that school has started up, I thought I would share this great recipe for chewy granola bars. All of the prepackage portion snacks can be very tempting as a convenient option to stick in a school lunch. For me, things like individually wrapped granola bars are really easy for my husband to take to work but unless I get a really great deal (like last week), I don't usually buy them.
This recipe makes a ton of granola bars, far more than a box, and they are easy to store either in the fridge or freezer. We've managed to eat a double batch without having to freeze them on more than one occasion! They are really chewy too, which is our favorite.
I got this recipe from The Frugal Girl, who modified it from All Recipes. I have since modified it a little more (but you can go here to see how she makes the oatmeal raisin version):
Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Chewy Granola Bars
dry ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats (I've used old fashioned and quick)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 c. chocolate chips
wet ingredients:
1/2 c. honey (I am going to use a little less than this next time I make them)
1 egg
2 t. vanilla extract (I use 1 real and 1 imitation)
1/4 c. peanut butter
1) Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, salt, and chocolate chips in a bowl. Stir to remove any chunks
2) Combine egg, oil, honey, and vanilla in a bowl and mix together
3) Mix wet and dry ingredients together, then add peanut butter
4) Place into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish and used a greased spatula to spread out, making an even layer
5) Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 15-18 minutes (until the edges start to look brown)
Once cool, you can cut them up and put them in a storage container (but you really should try them warm too - delicious!)
These granola bars will keep out on the counter for a few days, but after about a week I put them in the fridge. Since they don't have preservatives (which is a good thing) they can't stay out the way store bought bars can.
I wanted to take a picture of the finished product when I made these last week, but it has been super busy (hence this Wednesday post coming out on Friday). Here is a picture of spreading the mixture out with a spatula:
I'm definitely going to try this recipe for Ryan. He goes through so many granola bars and the cheapest ones I can find are at Walmart for $3.00 a box.
ReplyDeleteJust what I'm looking for!! Think I'm going to add some flax seed to mine...
ReplyDeleteyou did not put how much oil to use! these sound great though.
ReplyDeleteScott - I don't measure the oil; I just use enough to add enough moisture to mix together, since the peanut butter is oily. If I had to guess, I would say I don't put more than 1 Tablespoon in the granola bars. I hope that helps!
ReplyDeletei made these and didnt add any oil and they still came out delicious!! thanks for the recipe!! oh I also added 1/2c wheat germ into mine instead of flour.
ReplyDeletemy cousin and i made these and followed all the directions and didn't enjoy them at all. They tasted very bland and bad!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that, Celste. We make these often and love them! I do not like them as much when they are more dry, so I try to eye ball the oil to ensure that they are nice and moist.
ReplyDeleteOh we must've not added enough liquid. We are trying them again and they seem to look a lot better. Good Recipe!!
ReplyDeleteI make mine like this, too - but I use 1/2 cup peanut butter (my family are PB fanatics!) and add 1/2 cup wheat germ in addition to the flour.
ReplyDelete