Homemade Granola Bars

I simply love granola bars for an afternoon snack. I even found an organic brand I liked! However, it was almost $4 for a box of only 5 bars. That's not going to fit on the budget. So, what's a crafty girl to do? Make her own!!!

Using pantry staple items, I was able to only spend $2.75 for the wheat germ and $1.50 for the chocolate chips (granola bars just aren't granola bars without a bit of chocolate in them). This recipe is great, too, because the base for the recipe is all pantry staple items: flour, honey, brown sugar, rolled oats, and egg. Most of us always have those on hand. Once you have this base, you could add nuts, dried fruit, or anything you think would be yummy!

 So, here's what you'll need:

2 C rolled oats

1 C whole wheat flour

1 C chocolate chips (or 1/2 chocolate, 1/2 peanut butter)

1/2 C brown sugar

1/2 C wheat germ

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. salt

1 whole egg, beaten

1/2 C honey

1/2 C oil (I used what I had on hand... olive oil)

2 t. vanilla extract

Directions:

Combine all your dry ingredients in a large bowl. Next, combine all your wet ingredients in another bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir just until moistened.

Pat the mixture into a foil-lined (and sprayed) 9x13 baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the edges are starting to brown. If you like crunchy granola bars, bake for 20-25 minutes.

Let the bars cool for a few minutes and then slice with a pizza cutter.

Cool completely and then transfer to an airtight container. 

These look and smell delicious!! I got 16 large bars for about $5.00 (using staple items already on hand). You can't beat that for a yummy snack!