Granola Bars Galore

So I've decided that I want to make our own granola bars and I have to find the best recipes to have existed for them or at least ones we believe to be oh so yummy :) So far I have tried three, the first was alright, the second one better, but I preferred the third one. If you try them out let me know!

This one I got from our friend Sonja in Michigan. I lined my pan with wax paper (which worked awesomely!) and I pulled them out of the pan when they were cooled with it and used a pizza cutter to cut them into bars and it worked perfectly. With this recipe as well as the rest make sure you press it down nice and firm so it will all stick together and won't crumble.

4 tbsp butter

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup honey

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

2 cups oatmeal

1 cup rice krispies cereal

Optional items:

½ cup raisins, chocolate chips, or mini m&m’s

¼ cup pecans (or any other favorite nut)

¼ cup coconut

2 tbsp flax

2 tbsp almond butter ( in place of butter )

Combine butter, sugar and honey in a small sauce pan. Combine all other ingredients in a large bowl and mix. Heat the butter mixture until boiling. Boil for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and stir in vanilla and cinnamon. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix until evenly coated. If you are using chocolate chips, add them now and stir them in. That way they won’t melt.

Spray a bar pan and press the granola into the pan. Cool in the fridge for about 30 min. and then slice into bars. You can also press them into muffin pans. They make cute, individual servings this way.

This one is called the Easy Granola Bar and I got it Allrecipes.com which is a favorite site of mine. This really is super easy and for the extra 3 1/2 cups of stuff you can add whatever you please. In ours I used blueberries, chocolate, and almonds. I added wheat germ and flax seed to all three recipes as well to give it a bit more of a healthy kick to them. These ones were the hubby's favorite but it may have been because of the blueberries. With this recipe I lined the pan in parchment paper so I could just lift them out when they cooled completely and I also used the pizza cutter on them.

Ingredients

• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, sweetened condensed milk, butter, coconut, almonds, chocolate chips and cranberries with your hands until well blended. Press flat into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, depending on how crunchy you want them. Lightly browned just around the edges will give you moist, chewy bars. Let cool for 5 minutes, cut into squares then let cool completely before serving.

These are the bars I liked. I think it was the peanut butter that made them taste so good to me. I used a reduced fat peanut butter, honey, added nuts (almonds and peanuts) and craisins to the mix. This recipe is called No-Bake Rice Krispies Peanut Butter Granola Bars and I this recipe is from food.com another good site with lots of different recipes. This recipe I again used waxed paper and the pizza cutter to cut out bars. With these as well as the other two recipes I wrapped each bar individually in case we wanted to toss them in a lunch pail, bag or purse if we happen to be on the go that day.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies (for a firmer bar increase up to 2 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup dark corn syrup or 1/2 cup light corn syrup or 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat peanut butter (or can use regular peanut butter)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup dark raisin (or can use either 1/2 cup chopped nuts or 1/2 cup seeds or 1/2 cup coconut)
• 1/3 cup mini chocolate chip (to prevent melting refrigerate or freeze the chocolate chips before mixing in)

Directions:

Prep Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 22 mins

1. lightly grease 11 x 7-inch, can use a 13 x 9-inch baking dish but you will have a thinner bar.
2. In a large bowl combine Rice Krispies cereal, oats and raisins.
3. In a saucepan stir the corn syrup or honey and brown sugar until just at a boil.
4. Immediately remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until well combined.
5. Pour over the dry ingredients in the bowl; mix to combine.
6. Mix in mini chocolate chips (if using) work fast the mixture hardens quickly.
7. Transfer the mixture into prepared baking dish, then using slightly wet hands push evenly down into the pan.
8. While the mixture is still soft, for easier slicing take a sharp knife and slice into desired size bars.
9. Chill until firm.