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I've tried making homemade granola bars a time or two before, but never successfully.  The problem is, they tend to fall apart!  But when my friend Nancy from Real Food Allergy Free had her Homemade Granola Bars featured on Five Dollar Dinners (yayyyyy, Nancy!), I decided they were worth a shot.  They worked perfectly, and I was so glad to add a few more snacks to our lunch box stash.
Because we don't have any allergy issues at our house, we adapted the recipe for our family. Â However, if you'd like to see the gluten free, dairy free version start HERE, and be sure to visit Real Food Allergy Free for more allergy-free food ideas!
Homemade Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup honey Use $1/1 Burleson's Pure Honey printable  I ran out of honey, so used 3/4 cup honey combined with 1/4 light corn syrup – I wish I'd had more honey!
- 4 1/2 cups oatmeal
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup white flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips remember these are included in the Publix Buy Theirs Get Ours Freesale this week, use these $0.50/2 Nestle Toll House Morsels printable or $1/2 Nestle Toll House Morsels printable to get them for $1.60 each! (1 cup would have been enough, but my husband was standing next to me and thought I should add more) 🙂
Directions
- Set oven to 325. Â Grease a 9×13 pan.
- Beat butter & honey until well blended.
- Add flour, oats, and baking soda, and beat until combined.
- Stir in chocolate chips. Â Press into pan until completely flat to keep the bars from falling apart.
- Bake for 25 – 30 minutes (mine took just 25 minutes).
- Let cool 10-15 minutes, then cut into squares. Â Wrap tightly and serve for your kids lunchbox treats!
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Denise says
Look delicious.
Marsha Cooper says
Before all the changes at Headstart we made homemade granola bars for the kids all the time. Homemade is always best 🙂
I found your blog in inlinkz. I hope you will share some of your posts in my Frugal Friday linky.
Christen says
Thanks for sharing this, because I have been looking for a good homemade granola bar recipe for a while! I’ll try them with the Arthur White Whole Wheat flour first….I bet that will have a good flavor as well! (Glad the chocolate chips are on sale this week too!) 🙂
Jessica says
have you had any success freezing these?
Laurie says
I haven’t tried that, but I’ll check w/ Nancy (I bet you could because I know she refrigerates hers? BUT, I’d keep them wrapped very tightly and then in a large plastic container …)
Nancy @Real Food Allergy Free says
So happy they turned out. If you keep them in the fridge they’ll be less crumbly.
Angela says
Laurie – Are these granola bars soft and chewy or do they harden after cooling? I’ve tried to make homemade granola bars before and they always end up hard and we like the soft and chewy kind. Thanks.
Laurie says
Hi Angela! I’m with you – we definitely like softer granola bars. They aren’t quite as moist as the Quaker Chewy ones (which are BOGO at Publix this week), but they’re MUCH softer than any other recipe I’ve tried. I would definitely bake on the lower end though to keep them from hardening, and then I packed mine tightly in cling wrap to keep them fresh. Let me know if you try them! 🙂