Granola Bars

I love granola bars. The chewy one preferably. The crunchy ones are just one mistake away from being granola, and then I'm going to need yogurt or milk, and that is a whole thing. Especially for a kiddo. So soft and chewy granola bars are the way to go for us!

I do have to confess. The first time I made these I made the mistake of putting the oats in first, then my wet ingredients. And I over estimated the amount of oats that I needed, so I was stuck playing catch up with my wet ingredients, and I just ended up with a crunchy granola bar. While my kiddo could have cared less, and loved eating his granola bar, I had a huge mess on my hands. I needed to find a way to keep this snack intact - for my own sanity, and so more than a crumb got in my kiddos mouth at a time.

Here is my final recipe. I am much happier with it, and my kiddo can't get enough of them! They keep fantastic in a plastic bag, and freeze even better. My kiddo even eats them frozen (which gives me more than two seconds before he needs a second one!)

What you need:

Small sauce pan
Large Bowl
3 quart Corning ware baking pan (that's what the bottom says)
Parchment Paper
Pizza Cutter
2 cups Oats
1 cup Peanut butter
1/2 cup Date Paste (or honey if your kiddo is old enough)
2 TBSP water

Let's Bake

- Set oven to 350
- Into a large bowl measure out 1 cup of your oats and set aside.
- Scoop out your second cup of oats, but DO NOT add it to the bowl.
- In a small sauce pan, and your 1/2 cup of date paste and your cup of peanut butter and melt on medium heat.

- Constantly stir the mixture. You will be stirring for longer than you think necessary. This is when you add in your water slowly if you feel that they mixture is seizing. I added in one tablespoon at a time.

- You are looking for the two to combine, and then for the oils in your peanut butter to start to come out. Since we aren't using honey the texture is going to be a little thicker. I hope the picture helps

- When you have reached your desired consistency scoop it into your bowl with your one cup of oats

- Incorporate your mixture with the oats, then add more oats until your dough comes together completely*. 

*This means that all the oats stay in the mixture AND your dough stays together when you grasp it in your hand. 2 cups was enough when I did the recipe, but always be prepared for surprises. You can always add more oats - you can't take them out :(

- Once you have your dough, press it into a parchment lined dish - smaller dish for thicker granola bars

- I pressed raisins into mine, but they all fell out after. Maybe I will mix them in next time.

- You can go no bake with these and let them sit in the fridge before serving, but I cooked mine for about 20 mins to have them come together. 

- Let them cool, then pull the parchment paper out of the dish and cut with a pizza cutter!

- The finished product! I hope you enjoy them. My kiddo did!