Homemade Granola Bars

Do you ever find you are too busy to make yourself a healthy breakfast or even make breakfast at all? Well, this recipe will solve all your problems! Not only are these homemade granola bars nutritious and delicious they are super easy to make!

Ingredients:

2 Cups Oatmeal ( I used quick cook)

1 Cup Sliced Almonds

1 Cup Shredded Coconut

1/4 Cup Flax Seeds

3 TB Unsalted Butter

2/3 Cup Honey

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar (I used light brown)

1-2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

1/4 Tsp. Salt

1 Cup Dried Fruit, chopped (I used strawberries)

How To:

Preheat your oven to 325. Then butter an 8x12 or 9x13 inch glass baking dish and sprinkle a little flour in it. Set this aside for later. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oatmeal, coconut and almonds. Spread onto a baking sheet, bake for 10-12 minutes,  stirring occasionally. Coconut should start to brown a little. After 10-12 minutes, transfer bake into mixing bowl and stir in flax seeds; set aside.

Into a small sauce pan, add the butter, brown sugar, honey, salt and vanilla. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stir for 1 minute. Pour  over oatmeal mixture; add fruit. Mix well.

Pour mixture into prepared baking pan. Press mixture evenly into the pan with your fingers or a spatula. Bake for 20-25 minutes until light golden brown. Remove from oven and let your creation cool for at least 2 hours, preferably 3 hours before cutting. Cut into individual bars, wrap in plastic wrap and store in pantry.

Enjoy!

Notes:

I used dried strawberries, but if your want a cheaper option you can substitute strawberries for raisins or cranberries.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Tonight I had the urge to bake so I made chocolate peanut butter bars, yum yum! This recipe is so incredibly easy and so delicious!


Ingredients:


1 Cup Peanut Butter (creamy)
6 Tb Butter, softened
1 1/4 Cup Sugar
3 Eggs
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Flour
1/4 Tsp. Salt
2 Cups Chocolate Chips, divided


Process:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat peanut butter and butter until smooth. Add sugar, eggs and vanilla, and mix until creamy. Blend in flour and salt. Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips. Spread into ungreased 13x9 inch baking pan. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until edges begin to brown.

Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle all remaining chocolate chips over the top of the dish. Let stand 5 minutes, this should give the chocolate enough time to start melting. After 5 minutes, use a spoon to spread the chocolate to an even layer across the entire top of this dish of deliciousness! Let it cool completely before serving.

DIG IN!

Suggestions/changes:

The recipe says to let the dish cool completely before serving... I definitely jumped in and cut myself a bar after about 15 minutes out of the oven and it was still extremely tasty! Also, the recipe calls for creamy peanut butter- I used fresh ground and it worked just fine. I could see how creamy peanut butter would work butter, but fresh ground was all we had and it did the trick!