3C's Granola Bars

For no reason other than I really like granola bars and so do my ladies, I made these yesterday. I have been looking and looking for a recipe for granola bars that they would actually eat. This mean, no nuts, nothing crunchy at all, no raisins, craisins, or aisins of any kind. No wheat germ. That's for me. Just thinking about putting wheat germ in anything I would eat makes me, well, gag a bit. Sorry to all you healthy folks out there that are thinking I left the best ingredient out. Not going to happen here.  I ended up having to just mish mash a few recipes and add or omit things based on the picky eaters in my house. Here's the simple and easy bars I came up with.

I mixed together oats, flour, baking soda, vanilla extract, butter, honey, brown sugar, and mini chocolate chips.  That's some goodness in that there bowl.

I pushed it down in an 8x8 greased pan. You really need to compact it. Use those muscles.

Bake them for 20 minutes at 325 degrees. Let them cool for ten minutes and then cut them. Cool completely before removing from the pan.

I made them while Avery was napping just to see how it would be and I think next time, she could do this all herself. The measurements are simple and it was easy to combine all the ingredients together. I would cut them smaller next time as well. Right now, they are the size of a standard granola bar but these are more dense than a store bought bar. I ate one when they were still a little warm and they were amazingly delicious.  I like how there was very little sugar and they used honey to sweeten instead. There was no corn syrup like the store bought variety.

These are also very versatile. You could add sunflower seeds, nuts, raisins and other aisins, or wheat germ if you are hardcore.  Here's the recipe if you want to bake some up yourself:

Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

2 1/4 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons packed brown sugar

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Grease an 8x8 pan.

Combine all the ingredients.  Press firmly into the pan.

Bake for 18-22 minutes until golden brown.

Cool for 10 minutes and cut. Cool completely in the pan. EAT EAT EAT!!!