Homemade Granola Bars-Mom Got Food

I picked up the latest Everyday Food (Martha Stewart) Magazine because the tomato soup on the cover was calling to me. As I looked through it in the check out line I found a recipe for homemade granola bars. We go through boxed bars in this house like candy, so I wanted to try making some from scratch, because (a) they would be healthier and (b) they would be cheaper. I tried to follow the recipe that Emeril Lagasse shared (on page 34), but you know me! I seem to always put some kind of spin on a recipe…this time it was for lack of certain ingredients…and then what I thought was a disaster, ended up being a delicious surprise!

The disaster? I added mini-chocolate chips…and when the heated ingredients got mixed in, melted them. So, basically, I came up with chocolate granola bars! Total win!

Here is the original recipe- my additions are in (parenthesis)

3/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for baking dish (I only had salted)

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/3 cups slivered almonds (I used chopped pecans)

coarse salt

1 cup raisins or other dried fruit (no dried fruit- hence the mini-chocolate chips)

1/3 cup creamy almond butter or other nut butter (I only had crunchy almond butter)

1/4 cup light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a small saucepan, heat 1/4 cup honey and 2 tablespoons butter on low heat. Cook until butter melts. (about 2 minutes).

In a large bowl, combine oats, nuts and pinch salt. Drizzle honey mixture over oats and stir to combine; wipe saucepan clean. Spread mixture evenly on large baking sheet and bake until golden brown-about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool completely on sheet. Return to bowl and stir in raisins. (I added 1 cup of mini-chocolate chips).

 

Lightly butter an 8-inch pan ( I used parchment paper and sprayed lightly with a little bit of cooking spray). In saucepan, combine 1/2 cup honey, almond butter and brown sugar; cook stirring occasionally over medium heat until it comes to a boil; about 10 minutes. Drizzle over oats (it is here that it melted my chocolate chips!!) and stir to mix. Transfer to lined dish and pat smooth.

Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (If you make it like I did, I would not put in fridge that long. Maybe only 20 minutes-just enough time to set.)

Cut into 16 bars or squares. (Because the melted chocolate hardened, it was difficult to cut. It kind of broke into pieces.)

Store in airtight container for up to 5 days. (Um, these will be lucky to last in my kitchen for ONE!)

Would love to know if you make these! Let us know how they turned out in the comments below.