Recipe: Homemade Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

While Kate was in Kindergarten on Monday, I made these granola bars.  I’ve made them a bunch of times when the girls were younger but had forgotten about them, so it’s been a while.  The best part about this recipe is that you can change out the “bonus” ingredients as much as you want.  Sometimes we add nuts, raisins, blueberries, etc.  Our favorite seems to be just plain old chocolate chip, though.

Here’s the recipe…

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HOMEMADE GRANOLA BARS 
Ingredients:
2 cups gluten free { or not } oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ (eliminate if you are making the gluten free version)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour (we use Better Batter’s gluten free or Cup 4 Cup)
3/4 cup chocolate chips
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Optional:
1/2 c raisins or nuts
1/4 c ground flax seeds

Directions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.  Generously grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.
3.  In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, chocolate chips and salt.
4.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla.
5.  Mix well using your hands. It’s going to be messy but if you mix with a spatula spoon first, it won’t be as bad.
6.  Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
7.  Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges.
8.  Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut.

Store in an airtight container or a Ziploc bag.

Enjoy!
xoxo
–k