Homemade Granola Bars

October 27th, 2010 in Raising Kids on Read Food, cooking, recipes

We spend a lot of money on granola bars. Actually, the girls call them “Treat Bars” and love having them for snack time. About once every 6 weeks I drive up to a Whole Foods 45 minutes away to buy a certain kind I like and, boy, if they ever go on sale we stock up! But still, I have been wanting to cut down on that cost and make our own granola bars.

When you search around online there are quite a few homemade granola bar recipes for kids that include sweetened condensed milk, tons and tons of sugar, marshmallows and the only add in as chocolate. I mean, that isn’t a snack. That is a full blown treat. And for treat time we save things like cheesecake, chocolate chip cookies or chocolate cake, not a silly granola bar! So I think I have found a GRANOLA bar recipe that is a pretty darn healthy one. And we all enjoyed it.

Raising Kids on Real Food: Granola Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup Unsalted Butter
3/4 cup to 1 cup Honey
1/2 cups Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
4-½ cups Oats
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1-2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 – 3/4 cups Slivered Almonds
1/2- 3/4 cups Seeds
1/2 -3/4 cups Dried Cranberries
1/2-3/4 cups Mini Dark Chocolate Chips

Directions:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together: Flour, Oatmeal, Salt, Baking Soda and Cinnamon. Then beat in butter, honey, brown sugar and vanilla.

2. Then add in all your mix-ins: seeds, nuts, chips and dried fruits.

3. Now, YES, it will be a bit crumbly (I suggest watching the short video to see), BUT if it seems too crumbly for you, add in some more honey.

4. Line your pan (just the standard size you use for casseroles or cookies bars) with parchment paper that hangs off all the side and either spray with Pam or butter the paper.

5. Cook in oven for 20-25 minutes at 350. It is done when edges are brown.

6. Now this is where I messed up a little. I took the parchment paper (with the bars) out too soon which made it break too much. Wait a bit until they set. THEN take them out and slice them. I wrapped them individually in plastic wrap.

And if it helps you out to see things in video form, check out our quick video tutorial: