Homemade Granola Bars

I’ve mentioned before that A is a very busy toddler and can be quite the picky eater. I’m constantly looking for ways that she will get in healthy foods while on the go. We got a box of granola bars one day while at the store and they were a hit she loved them, but I didn’t necessarily LOVE what is in them – granola bars are full of preservatives. The plus side she was getting food that she wanted to eat, the downside was she was getting all the extras too. I knew there had to be a better solution. A lot of the recipes I looked at had dried fruit in them, dried fruit from the store has an ingredient called “Sulfur dioxide” in it. What is that you ask? It’s a preservative. I’ve always gotten migraines from dried fruits and wasn’t sure why but once I gave A dried fruit and she started getting splotchy I started investigating and I found Sulfur dioxide is something 1 in 10 are allergic to and you are more likely to be allergic if a parent is. Well, lucky us.

I know, you came here to read about granola bars not tried fruit but maybe you learned a little something? Anyways, I digress. Back to granola bars. 

After finding so many that had this that or the other thing in it I walked over to my pantry and started to get to work. My favorite thing is getting A involved in the kitchen, she loves it just as much, if not more than I do. So we got out the oats, brown sugar, wheat flour, agave, honey and peanut butter. We also got some peanut butter & chocolate chips to toss in too. Yum.

 

Ingredients:
3 Cups Quick Oats
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 Cup Honey
1/8 Cup Agave Nectar
1/2 Cup Peanut Butter
1 Bag Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chips
1/4 Cup Softened Butter

Preparation:
Preheat the Oven to 350*.
Mix together butter and sugar, then honey and agave.  Add Peanut Butter, baking powder, Oats and Whole Wheat Flour.  Mixture will be somewhat crumbly but should be moist. If needed add more peanut butter and honey to taste. Add Peanut Butter Chips & Chocolate Chips.

Pour into a greased 9×12 pan, press mixture firmly into the pan.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. The edges should be golden brown.

Once you pull the granola bars from the oven take a flat spatula (or pancake flipper) and press the mixture together.

Let cool. Then cut in 3 rows of 4 bars.

Enjoy.