Homemade Granola Bars

Another one of those foods that fall into the category of "why buy when you can make it?"


I actually never thought of making my own granola bars, but on my recent trek of trying to budget and also being more aware of what I'm eating, I discovered you can make them....and they are easy!!



I did search high and low for a recipe I liked and read a bunch of reviews to come to my decision to try this one...


Easy Granola Bars


I don't like those hard crunch granola bars...I like soft chewy ones.  I followed the recipe pretty closely for my first attempt at homemade granola bars.


The couple of changes I made were very minor...

 - I used shredded coconut because that's what I had
 - I don't like sliced almonds, but I do like almond flavour (I have no idea why...it's a texture thing), so I put whole almonds in my food processor and blended them to a powder.
 - I used regular sized chocolate chips because that's what I had


I baked it for exactly the 20 minutes, let it cool for 5 and then used a pizza cutter to cut the bars.  I left it in the pan until it was COMPLETELY cooled and then put it in the freezer until they were frozen.  I took them out, wrapped them individually and put them back in.  They taste fine straight out of the freezer, but I like them best as my mid morning snack when they've had time to soften and are perfectly chewy.

The parts where I couldn't get it all blended together nicely were too dry and crumbly, so I'll have to figure something out for next time.


I'm thinking of doing peanut butter with peanuts.  My brother in law did honey instead of the sweetened condensed milk and he said theirs turned out fine.  I might try a peanut butter and honey combo....and it would be better for you than the condensed milk.


It's a good "base" recipe...you could add any flavours you want to it.


Let me know if you try it!