Who doesn’t love a nutritious and convenient granola bar for a quick breakfast or a snack on-the-go? What I love about this recipe is that most ingredients can be swapped out based on whatever is available in your pantry (or what you crave!), including chocolate chips, shredded coconut, peanut butter, etc. The cooking time can also be adjusted to make the bars chewy or hard depending on your taste.
Ingredients
- vegetable oil cooking spray
- 2 cups quick-cooking oats
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup nuts (e.g. pumpkin seeds, slivered almonds, etc.)
- 1 cup rice krispies
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
Preparation
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13×9-inch pan with cooking spray.
- Mix all ingredients together in a bowl; spread into the prepared pan with a wet spatula, pressing evenly into the corners.
- Bake in the preheated oven approximately 20-25 minutes or until edges are golden grown. (Note: more time will yield crispier bars.)
- Allow the bars cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Loosen the edges from the pan using a knife or metal spatula. Place pan upside down on a chopping board and and tap until granola slides out. Use a sharp knife to cut into bars. Let the bars cool completely and store in an airtight container.
Image: Frank Steiner via Flickr
