Healthy After School Snacks August 27 2016
Growing up, one of my favorite after-school snacks was Fritos and Planter’s Corn Chips in a can – definitely tasty, but not as nutritious as my older-self now knows. If I could go back, I’d definitely choose this - an easy, no-bake recipe for healthy granola bars!
What You'll Need:
Base Ingredients –
- 2 ½ cups of Quick-Cooking Oats
- 2/3 cups of creamy Peanut, Almond or Cashew Butter
- 2/3 cups Honey
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
Ingredient Add-Ins – Choose Different Things to Change Up the Snack Batch-to-Batch -
- ½ cup unsweetened Shredded Coconut
- 2 cups Cereal – to add crunch
- ½ cup chopped Nuts – Pistachios, Almonds, Walnuts
- ½ cup Chocolate Chips – the dairy or non-dairy kind
- ½ cup Raisins or Craisins
What You'll Do:
- In a medium saucepan, combine the Peanut or Nut Butter and Honey and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until the Peanut or Nut Butter melts.
- In a large bowl, combine the Quick Oats, Vanilla Extract, Kosher Salt and the optional ingredients you have chosen for your granola bars.
- Once Peanut or Nut Butter and Honey mixture has melted, pour over the Oats in the bowl and mix it up well to coat all the oats.
- Grab a 9x16” metal baking pan and spray it with cooking spray.
- Spread your coated oat mixture into the pan and make as even a layer as you can.
- Press down firmly on the mixture with a heavy metal spatula to flatten it out as much as possible.
- Place the pan in the freezer to cool for approximately 10 minutes – longer, if you feel it needs more time to set
- Remove the pan from the freezer and cut the mixture into bars.
- Enjoy!