These granola bars are awesome because they are super easy, have basic ingredients that I can pronounce and are a great healthy lunch snack for my kids. Oh and they are Monkey Boy and the Girl approved. Guess the rest of that wouldn’t matter if they refused to eat them, right?!
Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup peanut butter {I used creamy but you could try it with crunchy}
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups quick oats
1/2 cup Rice Krispies
1/4 cup chocolate chips {I used mini}
Directions
Line the bottom of an 8 x 8 inch baking pan with parchment paper. In a sauce pan, melt butter, brown sugar, honey and peanut butter. Heat over medium-low heat until the mixture starts to bubble, stirring often. Once bubbly, cook for a few more minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, oats and cereal. Mix until combined. Pour into the pan and press down evenly. Make sure the bars are cooled completely before sprinkling with chocolate chips. Gently press the chocolate chips into the granola bars with your hands.
Cool bars in the fridge for at least 15 minutes before cutting. Cut bars, do a little dance of joy that an oven was not involved and serve.
~Mavis
Jana Williamson says
Can you substitute something for the rice Krispies? I was thinking nuts or dried fruit. Not fond of putting processed cereal in the bars.
Mavis Butterfield says
Maybe just use more oatmeal instead of rice krispies?
Mandy P says
You can use other puffed cereal (brown rice, millet, flaxseed). I have made similar granola bars and you need something crunchy to add to the yummy texture.
Maria Alison says
You can also make your own, with leftover rice.
Theres a nice video explaining it very simply.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wit-BIolQCk
Good Luck!!!
Shari says
I am so making puffed rice tomorrow! Thanks for the link!
Shari says
And, they turned out great!
Laura says
You could probably substitute anything you want in these! Most bar type cookie recipes are open to substitutions. Chopped walnuts, or chopped dried apricots or dates would be delicious. How about shredded coconut? Just layer on what you like, so long as the moistness is there it will work.
I am pretty sure granola bars aren’t as “healthy” as most of us moms would like to believe!
How many bars to you cut these into? I think my kids could eat an 8×8 pan’s worth in one sitting!
Mavis Butterfield says
This recipe makes about 12 bars.
Nefertiti says
What if peanut nut butter is not an option? Any other suggestions? Help Please.
Laura says
Huh… did I say something inappropriate a few hours ago? I just suggested chopped walnuts, apricots or dates, or coconut. And mentioned that this kind of bar cookie recipe is very open to substitutions.
My post disappeared like I had been offensive. I did wonder if we mothers are fooling ourselves in thinking granola bars are healthy, but that isn’t rude, is it?
Sorry if you thought so, it wasn’t a reflection on what you said, just something I wondered.
Laura says
Never mind this post. For some reason my previous one wasn’t even showing “awaiting moderation” until I posted another one! Sorry.
Billie Gann says
I love recipes with a few basic ingredients, that won’t require a trip to the store. We will be trying these soon.
Marcela Gonazález says
Hi, i don’t like peannut butter. Can you substitute something for the peannut butter?
Marcela González
Chile
Wendy Steele says
Almond Butter!!!! Oh my!!!
jen says
Sunflower seed butter may be a tasty alternative to peanut butter.
Niki Loheit says
We’ve been looking for a good granola bar and failed on some. (Our test panel is made up of 4 toddlers and they are tough critics!) but we nailed it on this one! We could not stop eating them. We’ll play around with substitutions because we have one family peanut allergy and nuts also add a nice amount of protein. Thank you so much!
Mavis Butterfield says
Awesome! I’m glad they liked the granola bars.
gin says
I saw this recipe a few days ago, came back so I could make it today, started searching and searching for it. FYI, it is not listed on your recipe page. Thanks!
Mavis Butterfield says
Thanks! I’ll get it on there.
gin says
These have completely replaced all of our store bought granola bars. I have made a double batch every weekend for the last month (using a 9×13 cake pan). We have decided the best combination is to eliminate chocolate chips, and use coco crispies in place of rice crispies.
Nancy says
Thanks for the idea to double and use a 9×13 pan! I had been trying to figure if that would work doubling an 8×8 recipe, the math doesn’t quite work out! 😉 I haven’t tried THESE bars (yet) but I LOVE making homemade no bake granola type of bars, and my kids love them. I’d love to replace the store-bought bars, but these go SOOOOO fast! How do you store them for them to last that 2 weeks? (the problem isn’t necessarily that they would go bad in that time, but that the kids keep going back for another bar, and then they’re gone in 2 days!) 😉
Brandi K says
I tried these tonight and they were delicious! I used peanut butter Cheerios instead of the Rice Krispies since that’s what I had. Next time I think I would add more dry ingredients because they were a little on the wet side. I did add about a tablespoon on flax seed this time.
Wynne says
Delicious! I wanted to skip buying Rice Krispies and went with puffed rice: a mistake, not enough crispiness. But I added some chopped peanuts that made up for that. I had regular oats and used them. Lots of chewing but still good. Pinch of salt was nice, too. Definitely making these again, with other flavor variations.
Becca says
Me & my 2 year love these bars, DH not so much, which is weird because he loves Quaker granola bars. Our version is a little extra peanut butter, marshmallows & chocolate chips melted in it & then a little more chocolate chips on top. Next time we’re going to try it with some raisins-guaranteed to keep dad out of them lol.
Gina D. says
Wowsers! I made these tonight and they were way over the top sweet. I will be making them differently, to match more how my son eats. He is autistic, and is super picky about food, and he says these are way too sweet. (and so did my hubby, who has a super huge sweet tooth) Thank you for the basic ingredients, though. I really appreciate it.
Jaina Ellis says
Um these were amazing and so easy! I had all the ingredients. We have a peanut allergy so I just left it out. I added Craisins and a white chocolate drizzle. Thank you!! I’ll never buy granola bars again.