Granola and Granola Bars! Easy Recipe

A couple of weeks ago I was invited into my daughter's classroom to make a special snack. They are doing a camping unit so they settled in on granola bars.  It was a fun and simple activity that the kids enjoyed helping out with. Now, I've made all sorts of granola bars in the past but these were particularly easy and yummy.  The kids gobbled them up and felt a true sense of accomplishment enjoying and sharing something that they had made with their own hands. There are a couple kids who have allergies in the class so these are easy enough to make both gluten-free and dairy free.  I'm thinking of making a couple of batches of these to handout as holiday gifts this year. Healthy, delicious and easy… If you are a granola bar fan and these will do the trick!

I used this recipe here

What I loved so much about this is that the kids enjoyed it more than I had ever anticipated they would. They worked together to measure ingredients, stirred in their oats and were focused on their common goal. It was a great reflection of how much children love to do different types of activities if we get them involved in the kitchen, they will be more inclined to try things that they may not have in the past. Most of the kids obviously had granola bars in the past but not all of them realized they came from simple oats and from things that most of them had in their cupboards including honey.  When they were done making them you could tell they felt a huge sense of pride and accomplishment with what they had done.  It was a fantastic morning!

If you are looking for a delicious snack I suggest you check out this easy recipe!  Better double it though, the bars go quickly!  To make my granola, I used the same recipe and baked the oat mixture and reduced the amount of honey I used to about 1/8 of a cup and baked it in the oven on 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  The oats crumbled easily and tasted delicious!

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups quick cooking oats {not rolled oats!}
1 cup crispy rice cereal
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, stir oats and rice cereal together. Set aside. In a small pot, melt butter, honey and brown sugar together over medium high heat until it comes to a bubble. Reduce the heat and cook 2 minutes. Pour in vanilla and stir. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well to moisten all ingredients. Pour into lightly greased small jelly roll pan {about 12x8x1} and press out to be about 3/4 inch in thickness. {If your pan isn't small enough, pack the mixture into one side. You really want to press them down so they stick together.} Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and press down lightly. Cool on a countertop to room temperature for two hours or until the chocolate chips are set before cutting into bars. Wrap in parchment or plastic wrap and store at room temperature.

Recipe Notes: If your granola bars don't seem to be staying together when you cut them, you may have not boiled the mixture long enough...you want it to make it just past the softball stage. OR you made them too thin or you didn't pack them in tight enough. Stick them in the fridge for 20 minutes and that should help keep them together. {Be sure not to keep them in there too long or else they'll become super hard!} The next time you make them, try boiling for an extra 15 seconds or so.

Happy Friday!  Linking up over at The Chicken Chick!  Come join the fun!