Easy Homemade Granola Bars Recipe

Homemade Granola Bars Recipe are easy to make. They taste so much better than any kind you buy at the store. You will feel good about serving these to your family.

Homemade Chocolate Chip Granola Bars Recipe:

We love granola bars in our house. Unfortunately, the prepackaged granola bars have so many additives, that sometimes you may not be sure exactly what you’re biting into. They are also not cheap.

Granola Bars are a good snack for everyone. The nutty, chewy, sweet oat flavor bars are also easy to make. We love making them because I know exactly the ingredients I am using.

Most of the time, we have the ingredients on hand so they are budget friendly. We love serving them as a snack or a breakfast on the go.

Homemade Granola Bars saves money!

We have been making a lot of homemade snacks lately for the kids lunch boxes. Homemade snacks are easy to make and budget friendly.

I want them to have lots of delicious food in their lunch box. Prepacked food and individual serving sizes gets so expensive. It does not take long for these to add up very quickly. Especially if you have a large family like my own.

Making recipe like this at home really saves money. Plus, I feel so much better about what I’m giving my children. I know exactly what is going in these granola bars and that feels really good. If you prefer a crunchy granola bar recipe, let them sit longer before cutting.

Ingredients:

• Butter
• Brown Sugar
• Light Karo Syrup
• Rice Krispies cereal
• Granola
• Chocolate Chips

You can also add a dash of vanilla extract if desired. I have also used coconut oil in this recipe as well.

How to make Granola Bars:

• Prepare you Pan – Line an 9×13″ baking dish or baking sheet with wax paper. Spray with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
• Melt Ingredients – In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, brown sugar and Karo syrup.
• Bring to a boil – Reduce heat to low-medium and simmer until all of the sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Make sure not to overcook mixture. It is helpful to set a timer.
• Add Cereal – Remove from heat and stir to combine the Rice Krispies cereal and granola until dry ingredients are mixed together. .

• Pour Mixture into Pan – Pour oat mixture into prepared pan and spread evenly with a scraper or rubber spatula.
• Add Chocolate Chips – Gently press the chocolate chips in with your scraper.
• Let Granola Rest – Let sit at room temperature before cutting. (Around 20-30 minutes.) Cut into desired size.

How do you get the granola bars to stick together?

There are several options that we have tried to get our granola bars to stick together. We think Karo Syrup and honey are the best options and are our favorites.

These options act as a great option to make sure that all the granola ingredients stick together to make the best granola bars.

Variation Ideas:

This is a great recipe because you can add in so many different ingredients. All of these option work great when adding these to your granola mixture.

• Coconut
• Peanuts, Sliced Almonds or other chopped nuts
• White Chocolate Chips
• Mini Chocolate Chips
• Raisins
• Peanut Butter Chips
• Peanut Butter
• Dried Fruits – Dried Cranberries are our favorite.
• Maple Syrup

Add in Healthy Seeds:

These granola bars are great as they are. But we also like adding some healthy seeds for even more health benefits. Here are the ones we love adding in:

• Chia Seeds
• Flax Seeds
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Pepitas
• Sunflower Seeds

Tips for the best Granola Bars:

• Smooth Nut Butter – It is recommended to use nut butter that has a smooth consistency. If your nut butter is dry or stiff then it doesn’t mix well with the oats and chocolate chips. It is recommended to use creamy nut butter instead of crunchy.
• Make sure to let chill – Make sure you give your granola bars time to chill. We are always tempted to dig right in to these yummy granola bars. But giving them time to chill give the ingredients time to set and we are able to cut into bars.
• Don’t over cook sugar mixture – When dissolving the butter and sugar together, make sure to not overcook. Set a timer to make sure that the mixture doesn’t burn.
• Chop Your Ingredients – When mixing in ingredients, make sure they are chopped in smaller pieces. Having smaller pieces the granola bars hold together better.
• Press in pan securely – Make sure when pressing the granola mix into the pan that you press firmly in the pan so that there is no air or spaces. I usually get a piece of wax paper and press firmly and evenly in the pan.

How to store Homemade Granola Bars:

Once you slice the granola bars, you can either store them in the refrigerator or freeze them. Store them in an air tight container. We place a layer of granola bars down and then place a piece a wax paper down. Then we place another layer of granola bars on top of the wax paper.

This prevents the granola bars from sticking which makes them easy to grab for a easy snack. They will last about a week in the refrigerator.

Can you freeze Chocolate Chip Granola Bars?

I like to make a double batch so I can have some in the freezer. If you do freeze them, they will last about 2 months in the freezer. Just place them in a freezer safe container.

When you are ready to serve them, let them set out about 20 minutes to get to room temperature.

Perfect Lunchbox Treat:

They are perfect for after school snacks or to send to school in the kid’s lunch box! Either way, they will love these homemade granola bars.

Pre-made treats can be so pricey so I like to make a double batch of these. After they cool, I just throw them into little sandwich bags and they are ready to go for lunches all week.

This also works for after school snacks and will save you a ton of time and money. It’s so convenient being able to just grab one of these and go.

Having them already in individual bags helps to make busy school mornings a breeze!

Give these Homemade Chocolate Chip Granola Bars a try!

The kids will love them and I have a feeling the adults will too! Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars calories are less than many store bought treats and snacks.

We save so much money on groceries by taking a little time to make our own snacks and treats. It is amazing how much it reduces the grocery budget.

The entire family will enjoy these granola bars. Let us know what variety your try when making these granola bars.

Print this Chocolate Chip Granola Bars Recipe below:

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