I’m fairly certain my kids have eaten a granola bar every school day since they started 3 and 4 years ago. Every. Day. As I was packing their lunches a while ago, the list of ingredients on the box of bars caught my eye. Why was it so extensive?! Surely you didn’t need so many ingredients to make granola bars and why were there so many I couldn’t pronounce? Pinterest to the rescue! I found what looked like a super simple and minimal ingredient recipe for no-bake granola bars that I wanted to try, so I did. And they’re awesome.
These no-bake granola bars take less than 10 mins to make and store really well. I’ve doubled the original recipe so we get approximately 20 bars, which for 2 kids, lasts 2 weeks.
This recipe uses butter, brown sugar, honey, and vanilla to make the sticky coating and a combination of rice crispies and quick oats for the base. Basically, you melt the “sticky ingredients” over medium heat then pour the mixture over top of the rice crispies and oats. Once mixed well, pour it into a pan lined with parchment paper and sprinkle the chocolate chips. Then, you need to press it into the pan. I placed a second piece of parchment paper on top so that I could really press it down without my hands getting sticky but that’s up to you. Make sure you use a pan with a high enough edge so the bars aren’t too thin. I use an 11×9 cake pan.
I haven’t tried mixing the chocolate chips in before putting in in the pan, since these are so sweet they don’t need that much extra chocolate, so I find the sprinkle on top is enough. But we did try pressing the bars before sprinkling the chocolate chips and after they cooled down, most of the chocolate fell off in the storage bag, which is why I like to sprinkle then press. We have however made them with cocoa rice crispies and my kids LOVED that. So much for trying to limit the chocolate, eh?
Below is a picture of me completely forgetting to put the chocolate chips on before pressing, like I just told you to do, because I have 2 kids, this was during march break, and what is sleep? But I wanted to just show you what I mean by using the 2nd piece of parchment paper to press down the bars.
They take about 2 hours to cool on the counter but I usually leave them overnight. Alternatively, you could put them in the fridge and they would likely harden in under an hour. We’ve kept them in an airtight container or baggie in the pantry for up to 2 weeks with no problems. Overall I’m super happy with this recipe and can’t wait to play around with different fun add-ins!
This recipe is adapted from Lauren’s Latest.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cup crispy rice cereal
- 4 cup quick oats
- 1/4 mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Combine crispy rice cereal and oats in a large heat-safe bowl and set aside.
- Melt butter, brown sugar, honey, and vanilla in a pot on the stove over medium heat, stirring frequently, until completely in liquid form (no chunks of butter or sugar).
- Continue cooking on medium heat until the mixture starts to bubble.
- Once it starts to bubble, carefully remove from the heat and pour over the cereal and oats.
- Mix well, then pour into a parchment-lined 11x9 cake pan.
- Evenly spread the mixture then sprinkle chocolate chips on top.
- Place a second piece of parchment paper over top of the pan and using your hands, evenly press down the mixture.
- Allow to cool on counter for 2 hours or in the fridge for 1 hour then cut into 20 bars.
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