We go through a LOT of granola bars in my house. Both of my older kids absolutely love chewy granola bars and both my husband and I have a soft spot for them too. Although my husband prefers crunchy granola bars the most, but that recipe is to be tried another day.
I followed the recipe as-is (except I didn't use gluten and dairy free products, and I doubled it to the quantities below), and we LOVE it!!! If you want Oats & Honey, just skip the chocolate chips. If you don't want chocolate chips, but another flavor, mix it up. These were extremely easy to make, and well worth it. I doubt that I'll be buying any more granola bars any time in the near future.
Oh, and next time I make these, I might add in one more cup of crispy rice cereal just to make them crunch a bit more. They were perfect as-is, but I want to see how they'll turn out with a little more crisp to them.
Source: Once A Month Mom
Granola Bars
(Oats & Honey or Chocolate Chip)
1/2 cup butter (needs to be full fat)
1/2 cup honey
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups crispy rice cereal
4 cups quick cooking oats
4 tbsp. mini chocolate chips*
Combine butter, honey and brown sugar and melt together until bubbling. Cook for two more minutes. Add vanilla.
Combine crispy rice cereal and oats. Mix wet and dry ingredients together until well mixed/coated.
Spread into a greased jelly roll pan. Press down firmly. You must press this extremely well for the bars to hold together.
Sprinkle with chocolate chips and press them into the granola mixture.
For chewy bars: Cool for several hours at room temperature for several hours before cutting into bars.
For crunchy bars: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 25-30 minutes or until edges start to brown. Cut into bars immediately and then wait for bars to cool (if you wait until cooled to cut, you will have an extremely hard time).
