Homemade No Bake Granola Bars

My sister gave me the leftover granola from Christmas and it was a tad bit stale to eat plain, so I made it into granola bars! I have done this once before (about 8 years ago), and I couldn't find the recipe I used, so I had to search for another.

I found this recipe.  I obviously adjusted it a lot since I used prepared granola. You could use granola from your cereal box.  But, I think it's a great base to add whatever you want to it!  When I run out of my granola, I'm going to experiment and throw in wheat germ, and all kinds of goodies!!  My recipe for granola is HERE.

They aren't sugar free, but to me they are a better alternative than store bought granola bars because you know whats in them, not processed, and mine are jam packed full of healthy granola!  I don't even like granola bars, but I'll eat these.  Jonah calls them cookies...  

No Bake Granola Bars
Recipe from HERE

Ingredients

• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 2 cups quick oats
• 1 cup crispy rice cereal (like Rice Krispies)
• ¼ cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

1.  Cut out an 8 x 8 inch square of parchment paper, and place in the bottom of an 8 x 8 inch baking dish. (Or, I just greased the pan!)
2. In a large sauce pan, add the butter, honey, brown sugar, and peanut butter. Place on the stove over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally with a large spoon until it begins to bubble.
3. Once bubbling, cook for 2 minutes while stirring.
4.  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla followed by the oats and crispy cereal. Stir until well coated then pour into the 8 x 8 inch dish. (I just poured in 3 cups of my already made granola in place of the quick oats and rice cereal)
5.  Press the mixture evenly into the dish.
6.  Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips over the top and gently press into the granola bars with your hands.
7.  Allow to cool and then cut into bars. Makes 12-16 granola bars.

I doubled the recipe, obviously

I cut mine into bars and then laid out a piece of saran wrap, and placed the bars on top spaced out.  I cut the saran wrap in between bars and wrapped them up.

I placed all the wrapped bars in a zip-lock bag and stored them in the fridge.  I pack them for my kids snacks at school. 

You can also use a cookie cutter and cut any shape out too!  I just did some large square sizes.

I thought if you used another shape, you could use all the crumbles as yogurt or ice cream toppings!