When Weston was a newborn and I was up nursing him frequently during the night, I was RAVENOUS. I had to keep a pile of snacks in his nursery so I could snack while I fed him. One of the things I always had stocked was granola bars. Nothing fancy because I blew through them so fast, but those delicious Quaker Granola bars like the ones I sometimes had during my childhood! My mom was a bit of hippie, so those Dipped granola bars were definitely a treat to be savoured. When we found out West was allergic to dairy and soy, those granola bars had to go (along with almost everything else in my pantry!) and I was left searching for a new snack. I tried a handful of allergen free bars, all of which were delicious but also very expensive. I decided that it couldn’t be that hard to make them and took to my best friend, Pinterest, for some “pinspiration”. These homemade granola bars are thick, chewy, and so so tasty. They’ve been added to our weekly meal prep, and are definitely a favoured item because they come together so quickly and easily, with ingredients we always have on hand (and I bet you will too!). Most importantly, they’re so much healthier than the store bought version, but are cheaper to make than the “healthy” allergen free bars. Set aside 15 minutes and 6 ingredients to make yourself these granola bars for guilt free snacking- you won’t regret it!

• Ingredients
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup Rice Krispies*
• 1/2 cup honey *
• 3/4 natural peanut butter (I haven’t tried with regular peanut butter but I’m sure it is OK. I would probably start with 1/4 cup honey, then add more to desired level of sweetness)
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional, but recommended)

Method

1. Prepare 9×9 pan, by lining it with parchment paper.
2. Combine oats, Rice Krispies and cinnamon (if using) in a large mixing bowl
3. In heat proof bowl combine honey and peanut butter. Microwave in 10 second increments and stir well to combine each time, until a smooth mixture is achieved. This step will be a lot quicker for those using natural peanut butter since it’s already quite thin!
4. Add chocolate chips to peanut butter and honey mixture, stir to combine. Don’t worry if the chocolate chips melt a little, it just disperses the chocolatey goodness!
5. Add peanut butter mixture to oat mixture and stir to combine. This mixture will be very thick and sticky!! Once well mixed, pour into prepared pan and press Very firmly into pan. Refrigerate several hours until set, then cut into desired size.

Notes

* Make Vegan by swapping honey for another sticky sweetener of your choice, and using dairy free chocolate chip! (Enjoy Life are our favourite and can be found at most grocery stores)

* Make gluten free by using certified gluten free oats and rice cereal

* Make peanut free by swapping peanut butter for almond butter or nut free with Sun Butter

* Refrigerated granola bars will last up to a week. ( But ours never even make it that long!!)

* Play with flavours by adding coconut flakes or dried cherries.

* Make extra chocolatey but drizzling melted chocolate on top, or sprinkling with extra chocolate chips before pressing into pan.

We hope you love this recipe! If you make them show us your finished product by tagging us @rivercitysisters on Instagram or by using the hashtag #rivercitysisters!

Happy food prepping friends!!

Inspiration:

https://marshasbakingaddiction.com/no-bake-chocolate-chip-peanut-butter-granola-bars/