Homemade Granola Bars

Lately, serving my family homemade food without preservatives, extra salt, and who knows what else in it has become more and more important to me.  It started out at first as a way to save money.  I began making all our own bread, granola to replace cereal, cream of something soups, and so forth.  I was surprised at how rewarding it was to set a delicious meal in front of my family and know exactly  what was in it, and to know that it was made of wholesome ingredients that I could pronounce.  :)

I decided to take this a step further and try to begin making more of our snack foods.  I had been doing research on this for a few days when my amazing, talented friend Sarah posted on her blog all about the homemade snacks she had been making for her family!  Bingo!  She willingly shared her recipe sources, and they are perfect - exactly what I was looking for!

This week, I'll be sharing some of our new favorite snack recipes.  Today's amazing recipe: homemade granola bars!  Man, my kids eat these like they are candy bars.  :)  Literally, I give it to them for 'dessert' most of the time, but with no white sugar or corn syrup, and only a small amount of mini chocolate chips on top (optional) I feel great about serving them this dessert.

Not to mention the added advantage that making these granola bars costs pennies compared to the store bought prices.


 Photo from: http://mangiablog.com/2011/09/09/friday-link-love-back-to-school-recipes/


Ingredients:

• 3/4 c. butter
• 3/4 c. honey
• 1 c. packed brown sugar
• 6 c. quick cooking oats (not rolled oats!)
• 3 c. crispy rice cereal
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• mini chocolate chips to sprinkle on top (optional)

In a large bowl, stir oats and rice cereal together.  Set aside.  In a small pot, melt butter, honey, and brown sugar together over medium high heat until it comes to a bubble.  Reduce the heat and cook 2 minutes.  Pour in vanilla and stir.  Pour over dry ingredients and mix well to moisten all ingredients.  Pour into a lightly greased sheet cake pan and press out to be about 3/4 inch in thickness.  You really want to press them down to they stick together.  Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips if desired and press down lightly.  Cool on a counter top to room temperature for two hours or until the chocolate chips are set before cutting into bars.  Cut into bars (I got 36 good-sized bars) and wrap in parchment paper or plastic wrap and store at room temperature.

*Notes:  I had no problem with the bars not staying together - they came out perfectly!  However, if your bars don't seem to be staying together when you cut them, you may have not boiled the mixture long enough . . . you want it to make it just past the softball stage.  Or you make them too thin or you didn't pack them in tight enough.  Stick them in the fridge for 20 minutes and that should help keep them together.  Be sure not to keep them in there too long or else they'll become super hard!  The next time you make them, try boiling for an extra 15 seconds or so.

*This recipe is a great base for a granola bar, and wonderful just as it, but you can use it to expand and add in whatever you want: coconut, butterscotch chips, nuts...

Adapted from a recipe from Rachael Ray.