What I Ate Wednesday - Homemade Peanut Butter Granola Bars

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Saying that Andy eats a lot of granola bars would be an understatement. It's more like a butt-ton (a personal favorite unit of measurement) of granola bars. Every morning for breakfast. And he can eat 2 of them without being even close to satisfied. So, me being me, got tired of spending lots of money on granola bars and wanted to try to make them on my own. And it has to be healthier, right???

I followed this recipe for no-bake granola bars and it was easy and fast! As usual, I didn't exactly follow the directions and I definitely didn't measure anything... so here is my interpretation of the recipe! It made 5 large (I'm talking probably 3 times the size of a store-bought one) granola bars and Andy has approved this recipe!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups quick cooking oats
• 1 cup Rice Krispies
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 stick of unsalted butter (I plan to use 1/2 of that amount next time to cut back on calories)
• 1/4 cup honey (I may use maple syrup in the next batch - honey is expensive!)
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt (original recipe called for this but I left it out)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbs peanut butter
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions:

1.  In a large mixing bowl, mix together the oats, cereal and coconut.  Set a small saucepan over medium high heat and melt the butter.  Add the honey, brown sugar (and salt if you wish). Stir together then leave it alone as it comes to a boil.  Once the boil has reached all the way around the edges of the pan, begin timing.  Allow this mixture to boil for 2 minutes and 15 seconds. (I only did 90 seconds because it got out of control - my bad.) Add the peanut butter at the end of this and stir in completely.

Heat that deliciousness to a rolling boil - but keep an eye on it!

2.  Pour the mixture over the oats. Mix the ingredients together until the oats are completely coated.  Let cool before adding chocolate chips.

Mix it all together - you're almost done... already!

3. Press very firmly into a lightly greased pan. (The original recipe calls for a 9x13 pan but I used one about 1/3 the size of that because I wanted super thick bars)  If you do not press firmly enough, the bars will fall apart when you eat them.  Place them in the fridge for 20 minutes then cut to size. You can add additional toppings at this point and then wrap in saran wrap or store in re-useable containers. Enjoy!

Feel free to go crazy with the toppings! Or just leave them plain... your choice!

Total cost: I'm not really sure because I only had to purchase the oats and Rice Krispies - everything else I had on hand! But it sure does feel a lot less expensive than buying 2 or more boxes of granola bars a week!

Variations I plan on trying: Pumpkin pie, white chocolate, dark chocolate and almonds, dried berry, candy bar, maple bacon! I'll let you know how it works out!

Check out additional variations via the original posting on Made From Pinterest!