No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars
My kids are obsessed with granola bars, and truth be told, the apples don’t fall far from the tree. Granola bars have long been one of my favorites. What I’ve never liked–however–is the grocery store price tag on granola bars. It’s a little crazy how expensive it is for one box that contains just six little bars. I’ve always bought them because we just love them so much and they are such a convenient, nutritious snack. (Nutritious, that is, if you buy the right brand.)
Still, I’ve been doing a lot more cooking lately and it occurred to me that I should just make my own granola bars. I found a few simple recipes online and adapted them a bit. The beauty about making your own granola bars is that you can make them any way that you like. You can add and remove ingredients to your heart’s content.
I’ll share what I used for my first batch below, but I am definitely going to explore with different variations in the future. I’m thinking dried fruit, nuts, shredded vegetables… the possibilities are endless!
Ingredients
- quick cook oats
- chocolate chips
- sunflower seeds
- chia seeds
- peanut butter
- honey
- extra virgin olive oil
- butter
- parchment paper
Directions
Melt peanut butter, honey, and butter in a sauce pan. Pour all of your dry ingredients into a large bowl. Pour melted wet ingredients over your dry ingredients and mix gently until all ingredients are evenly coated. (At this point, my mixture was a bit dry so I added a bit of olive oil to get it to the right consistency. You may or may not have to.)
Next, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Now scoop your combined mixture onto the parchment. Gently pat down the mixture to your desired thickness for the bars. Then gently press the sides of the mixture to form a rectangle. Now, cover your granola and let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Once your granola has hardened, you can cut it into granola bars of your desired shape and size.
Et voilà! Your nutritious, delicious granola bars are ready to enjoy. As you’ll see, they got Roman’s full stamp of approval. Honestly, they got mine and Marina’s too. None of us could stop eating these bars–they were almost too good to be true! One last note, you’ll want to store them, covered, in the refrigerator so that they don’t go soft.
I had so much fun making these and the kids had even more fun helping and watching. I hope that you guys enjoy this recipe as much as we did. xo