chewy peanut butter granola bars

Here's my recipe for granola bars. Steve loves them, and they're great for snacking on the go! 

You'll need a small sauce pan, a casserole dish, and a mixing bowl.

Ingredients:

- 2 cups of oats

- 1 cup rice cereal

- 1/4 cup each of flax, wheat bran, & wheat germ

- 1/3 cup honey

- 1/4 cup applesauce

- 2/3 cup brown sugar

- 2/3 cup peanut butter

- 1 tsp salt

Optional Peanut Butter Topping:

- 1 bag of peanut butter baking chips

- 2/3 cup peanut butter

Combine the oats, rice, flax, wheat bran, & wheat germ in your mixing bowl:

Set that aside, and combine the rest of the ingredients in a small sauce pan until melted, then stir for about 2 minutes.

Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients & mix well.

Spread & press into your casserole dish (I like to line mine with wax paper first for easy removal). And there you go, granola bars!

I like to take things a step further & add a peanut butter topping to the bars. It adds more peanut butter flavor & helps bind the bars together. Mix a package of peanut butter chips with 2/3 cup peanut butter & melt it on the stove.

Then spread it on top of the granola mixture & refrigerate for an hour.

Once it's cooled, cut it into bars.

Voila, you're ready for snack time!

Obviously, these aren't gluten free, so they're just for Steve. I'll try to post about my gluten free bars next time I make a batch.