Homemade Healthy Chewy Granola Bars | The Easiest Granola Bars Ever Recipe
The most easiest, healthiest, chewy, homemade granola bars ever because it took me just 2 minutes to rustle up these bars. Isn’t that cool? 2 full minutes is all it takes to enjoy healthy snacking on the go. Also these bars do not use rolled oats and maple syrup unlike most of the granola bars, as they both come under imported goods in my place, cost a bomb. These bars takes just 5 ingredients that are already available in your pantry and keeping this granola bar recipe as the basic, you can come up with lots of variations that I have also given here.
Earlier I used to make these bars with cornflakes as the kids loved the crunchiness it gave contrasting the soft oats, but recently as I ran out of cornflakes and I had lots of pori (Rice Krispies) left out after making Kaara pori for our snacks, decided to use it in the bars and it was like a combination of both granola bars and rice krispies bars into one single bar.
Homemade Healthy Chewy Granola Bars
Prep time: 2 mins | Cook time: 2 mins | Makes: 10 squares
Ingredients:
- Quick Cooking Oats – 2 cups
- Rice Krispies / Puffed Rice / Pori / Murmura – 1 cup
- Brown sugar – 1/4 cup
- Butter / Oil – 1/4 cup (I used coconut oil)
- Honey – 1/4 cup
- Vanilla essence – 1 tsp (optional) *See variations
- Chocolate chips – 1/4 cup (optional) *See variations
Instructions:
1. In a large bowl, mix together both quick cooking oat and rice krispies and keep aside. Grease a square pan with oil and keep aside.
2. In a sauce pan, mix together oil, brown sugar and honey and heat over low flame. Simmer for 2 minutes till the sugar dissolves completely and small bubbles start forming around the corners and it becomes to bubble. Keep stirring continuously with a spatula. I used a balloon whisk.
3. Remove from fire and add vanilla essence and mix well.
4. Immediately pour this mixture over the oats and krispies mix and with the help of a wooden spatula mix well. It will be hot, so if mixing by hand, you may wish to wear gloves.
5. Dump the entire contents into the greased pan and press well. I greased a flat bottomed small bowl on the outer side and used it to press and pack the bars tightly into the tray.
6. Sprinkle chocolate chips all over and press them into the mixture as well. Let it cool for 1-2 hours. Grease a knife with oil and cut them into slices and serve.
7. I believe this will keep well for 3-4 days at room temperature but it never lasted that long in my home for me to find out.
Variations:
1. You can use crushed, flavored or plain cornflakes instead of rice krispies.
2. You can add chopped nuts like almonds, cashews, pistachios etc.
3. You can add dry fruits like dates, raisins, black currants, cranberries, tutti frutti and apricots as you wish.
4. You can make these bars nuts free by adding sunflower seeds, toasted flax seeds, pumpkin seeds etc.,
5. You can also add unsweetened desiccated coconut and replace the vanilla essence with some cardamom essence.
6. Instead of chocolate chips, you can use M&M’s, colored sprinkles also.
7. You can reduce the oil and replace it with some peanut butter.
Notes:
1. If you are not confident of getting perfect shaped squares or rectangle, after step 6, let the mixture come to room temperature then place the tin in the fridge for 1 hour. You will be able to cut perfect shapes.
2. Instead of cutting into squares, when the mixture is still warm, you can make them into balls instead.