Soft Chewy Granola Bars

Given that this is my second post about granola bars, you can probably guess how much we love granola bars over here. A LOT. For seriously.

These take about 10 minutes to make, and while they do need to chill/set you can eat these within an hour! Or just eat them with a spoon, whatever.

The best part of this recipe is the flexibility. I have made dozens of batches, each one a little different, based on what I have in the house that week. Mostly, I add in chocolate chips because that is my kids favorite. This week, I bought a dehydrator so I used dried blueberries. (I have been drying EVERYTHING.)

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup crisp rice cereal

1/2 cup flax seed

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup chunky peanut butter

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup dried blueberries (or whatever)

Mix together first three ingredients in your PINK KITCHENAID STAND MIXER!

(Sorry, I just got one and I'M REALLY EXCITED. I use it for everything I possibly can, but a few weeks ago before I got it, I just used a wooden spoon to make these and it worked totally fine.)

Mix in the next three ingredients. I use natural chunky peanut butter (Meijer naturals to be exact), so the consistency is slightly different than regular peanut butter. I like using chunky peanut butter because I like peanuts in my granola bar, but I have used smooth and it's fine.

The mix should be wet, but not drippy. If it's too dry, add another Tbsp of peanut butter.

Then add your blueberries or chocolate chips. Or marshmallows. Or apricots. Or nothing, they're really super good without anything else.

Press into your pan with your hands or a spatula. I use a back of a spoon. Pack it down as hard as you can, it will make the granola bars stay together better. Once pressed down, put your pan in the fridge for at least half an hour before cutting.

I store mine in the fridge because I think they keep better that way. I have kept them in my cupboard, and they fell apart easier and since they have no preservatives, they won't last long. I can't tell you exactly how long they will last since mine are never around longer than a week.

So, enjoy! I made this batch earlier this evening, and they're half gone already!