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Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

At least 10 times a day I hear the phrase, "Mom, I'm hungry!".  Because snacking is such a frequent part of our daily lives, I'm always on the hunt for a variety of healthy and yummy snacks.  Since making these granola bars, I have one happy 4 year old!  She thinks they are a great snack and so do I.  We both love having these around.  They are so easy to make and only take a few ingredients.  I think they have a texture very similar to Quaker granola bars, but you know what?  I like these better!
They're a lot cheaper too.  And don't limit yourself to chocolate chips either. They would be great with nuts, peanut butter chips, coconut, raisins, craisins, etc.




*I doubled this recipe in a large jelly roll pan and ended up with 30 granola bars.  I would wait to sprinkle the chocolate chips on till the granola bars or at room temp. or they will melt onto your hands when you are pressing them in.  


Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
from Lauren's Latest

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.  Or make it really easy on yourself and line it with foil-backed parchment.  Then you can simply lift the bars out of the pan to cut them.   {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 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 reducing the butter to 3 tablespoons and really packing them down.

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