Homemade chewy granola bars (chocolate chip peanut butter)

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: