Homemade Granola Bars

Just like my oatmeal bites, these are snacks I love to take to work or school! Granola bars are one of the easiest snacks ever, but all the store-bought ones are filled with so much junk that I can hardly put them in my mouth.

These, on the other hand, are very simple, and are easily made with almost all whole ingredients. They only take about 10 minutes to make + cooling time, and are nearly effortless. (Unless you get granola with un-wanted raisins...then it's a little more time consuming!)

These bars actually come with a funny story for me...my boyfriend often creeps on my Pinterest to find present ideas for me, so for my birthday last fall he saw that I pinned a recipe similar to this. So, instead of bringing me a cupcake or something of the sort, he brought me a big pan of granola bars! He knows me so well. :)

Since then I have modified the recipe to make it a little healthier, but if you don't want to go out and dig for the weird ingredients, I'll add the simpler version as well.

Recipe:

1 cup brown rice cereal/Rice Crispies
2 cups natural granola/homemade granola/box granola
4 T coconut oil/butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown rice syrup/brown sugar
chocolate chips to taste (I like a lot!)

Heat the brown sugar/syrup + honey +butter/coconut oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
Bring to a boil (stirring constantly), reduce heat, and stir until sugar dissolves.
Add granola and cereal into the saucepan gradually, and stir until coated.
Press firmly into two 9x5 loaf pans, or a 9x13 cake pan. (I used a cake pan, but I didn't spread it all the way so they would stay thicker.)
Sprinkle chocolate chips over the bars and press them down immediately.
Let cool for an hour+ before cutting.

 

I just finished making them, and couldn't wait until they were cut to share them with you guys!

**IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO PRESS THEM DOWN FIRMLY! THEY FALL APART VERY EASILY!