My Homemade Granola Bars Recipe for Back to School
If there’s one thing I know about kids and growing boys it’s that snacks happen. If there’s one thing all homeschooling Moms can agree on, it’s that once the school year rolls around school snack time happens, a lot! I have several friends who have signs on their pantry about when the kitchen is closed and open to delay kids from eating all day!
Well, these granola bars will come in handy for snacks or quick breakfast or really anytime you need a little pick me up. Personally I like the simple ingredients and how you’re able to stretch store bought or homemade granola into delicious bars. These are far more cost effective than buying bars at the store.
A case for Making Granola Bars
I’ll admit I don’t always think about granola bars when I think of homemade snacks. But I should, and you should as well. The ingredients are all pantry staples, everything came together quickly in a large bowl, and in about 30 minutes this easy recipe came together. Now, when my kids are hungry today, they have these bars. For the parts that crumbled a bit much, I saved those bits too for a snack with some milk or yogurt. Let no crumb be left behind!
For the Love of Cooking
Let’s bake. Or is it cooking? This one seems more baking I suppose. All you’ll need is a small saucepan for warming the wet ingredients and a large bowl to mix everything together. I love the sprouted rolled oats from Costco for this and granola from there as well, but if you’re up for making your own granola you can do that here as well.
Variations Abound
While I didn’t add any nuts, you could easily add in 1/3 to 1/2 cup of chopped pecans, walnuts, or even flaxseed into these. Simply mix in with your rubber spatula and you can create some very healthy recipes!
I used molasses and honey here, but brown rice syrup could work in place of the honey, agave, or even coconut oil. We used creamy peanut butter, but you could try these with almond butter as well! Your goal is for the oat mixture to be completely coated when you push the bars into the prepared pan.
Let’s Bake
To make sure we didn’t have any bit stuck to the 9×13 I sprayed the pan with avocado oil spray, placed some parchment paper down, then sprayed it again. The bars came out beautifully. I think I’ll be using this method moving forward!
Make sure everything cools to room temperature before cutting into them. Bake times may vary, 25 to 30 minutes until they are golden brown and set!
Store in an airtight container. I’m sure ours will be gone in three days, but they’d last well for about a week. I hope you love this granola bar recipe! Enjoy!
Back to School Granola Bars
Ingredients
- avocado oil spray
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/3 cup molasses
- 2 tbsp. brown sugar
- 2 tbsp. mixed fruit preserves
- 4 cups pre-made granola
- 3 cups rolled old-fashioned oats
- 1/3 cup hemp hearts optional
- 2/3 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°. Line 9×13 pan with cooking spray, parchement, then another spray of cooking spray.
- In a small saucepan warm peanut butter, honey, molasses, jam, and brown sugar until sugar has melted and peanut butter has thinned.
- Mix dry ingredients in big bowl. Pour liquid on top and stir to coat the oats.
- When everything is equally coated, spread the mixture into the pan. Press mixture down with a rubber spatula.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool completely then cut and enjoy!
You can enjoy these as is or I sometimes like them with greek yogurt and a bit of honey!
