4 Favorite Granola Bar Recipes

Since my oldest son has inherited his daddy’s love of sweets, and I’d prefer if his teeth don’t all rot and fall out, I’ve been trying out a variety of granola bar recipes for semi-healthy snacking.  I’ve had a few people ask me for the recipes we’ve been using, so I thought I’d post them here for you to try.

We eat all of these, but I’m listing them in order of favorite to least favorite.

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Chewy Granola Energy Bars

2 ½ cups quick oatmeal

¾ cup Rice Krispies

½ cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup slivered almonds (or peanuts)

1 Tbsp. wheat germ

½ cup creamy peanut butter

¼ cup honey

½ tsp. vanilla

1 egg

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together (I dump everything in my kitchen aid mixer and turn it on low for a bit.) Press into a greased 9×9 pan. Bake 18 minutes. Score after removing them from the oven. Then cut into bars when they are cool.  I wrap them individually in plastic wrap, but that’s obviously not necessary.

Why are these the favorite? 1. Probably because they actually have sugar in them (sugar makes everything better). 2. They are the gooiest, not dry like some granola bars.

(This recipe was originally found at  Jo and Sue, but I tweaked it a bit. The Harms family doesn’t do coconut.)

 

Ultimate Power Bars

4 cups quick oatmeal

1 cup wheat germ

½ cup oat bran

3 tbsp. flaxseed

1 tbsp. cinnamon

½ cup chopped almonds

1 cup honey

4 tbsp. melted butter

Mix all ingredients together. Press into greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Let cool and refrigerate until firm. Cut into bars. (This takes some muscle. They are pretty dense bars.)

I really like these, but they tend to be a bit crumbly.

You can also add chocolate chips to the top for the last couple minutes in the over and then spread the melted chips as a frosting. That’s how I always make them.

(This recipe came from my friend Amber, but again I tweaked it our our family’s taste. The Harms family not only doesn’t do coconut, we don’t do raisins either.)

 

No Bake Granola Balls

1 2/3 cup quick oatmeal

½ cup peanut butter

½ cup wheat germ

½ cup chocolate chips

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients. Let chill in fridge for ½ hour. Roll into balls. (I always grease my hands because it tends to stick). Store in refrigerator.

(This one was originally found at Gimme Some Oven, but I can’t find it there now.)

 

Nutella Energy Bites

2 quick oatmeal

½ cup Nutella

¼ cup wheat germ

½ cup chocolate chips

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients. Chill in fridge for ½ hour. Roll into balls and store in the fridge.

I thought I would really like these, but turns out I don’t. We ate all of them, but I we like the other ones enough more that I don’t know if I’ll make them very often.

(This original recipe came from Cozy Country Living. Again this is tweaked. Just say no to coconut.)

 

 

By KimHarms

Kim Harms is an author, speaker, and part-time library assistant with two decades of freelance writing experience. She has a degree in English from Iowa State University. She and her husband Corey have three super-awesome sons and one crazy dog. A two-time breast cancer survivor, her first book, Life Reconstructed: Navigating the World of Mastectomies and Breast Reconstruction (Familius), is a guide for women walking the breast cancer road. She is currently working on her second book, a devotional for women going through breast cancer.

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