Homemade Granola Bars are so easy to make and they are much more cost-effective than the store-bought ones. In our family of 5 a package of store-bought granola bars are gone in a day if we all have one. I usually opt to not have one since I have a love hate relationship with granola bars. I like them crunchy but I don’t want them to be hard. This recipe will make a soft and chewy granola bar but if you leave it in the oven for 5 extra minutes it’s the perfect mix of soft and chewy, but with a crunch. Exactly how I love it!
Once I realized how easy they were to make we are now enjoying them a lot more in our home. I especially love that they are a healthy snack for the kiddos. We have had them for breakfast, they have it as a midday snack and I put it in their lunch as a “dessert”. My kids love the Pumpkin Granola bar flavor but you can pretty much make them whatever flavor you want and size!
Homemade Soft & Chewy Granola Bars
- 1tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cp brown sugar
- 3 tbl of butter
- 2 cps rolled oats
- 1/4cp crushed walnuts or almonds
- 1/2 cp pumpkin butter or any other fruit preserve
- 1/4cp apple sauce
- 1tsp of pumpkin spice (optional if you are making Pumpkin granola bars)
1. Mix cinnamon, sugar, butter, pumpkin spice and oats (& nuts) together.
2. Then add 1/4 cp of apple sauce to the mix. If you’re making pumpkin bars add more pumpkin butter instead of apple sauce.
3. Mix, I usually end up using my fingers. It will turn into a crumbly mixture.
4. Flatten out oatmeal mix in the greased pan. But reserving some for the topping.
5. Then place 1/2 of pumpkin butter or your fruit preserves over the flatten oatmeal.
6. Grab the rest of your oatmeal mixture and crumble over the fruit preserve.
It will resemble a sandwich.
Bake at 350 for 20- 25 minutes. If you like yours slightly crunchier leave it in for 5 more minutes but make sure it doesn’t burn.
They look delish! Definately going to try out this recipe
Thx, they really are yummy and addictive.
Can’t wait to try this. What size pan does it make?
Hi Lynnette, we just use a cookie sheet even though it doesn’t fill up the whole cookie sheet b/c I love my Wilton Silicon Baking mat that goes over our cookie sheets it just makes my baking life easier. But it would fit perfectly in a 9×9 pan.
Thank You!
Wow, these look and sound deliciously yummy. I love pumpkin too. I would lobe for you to link them to my party going on now at http://www.memoriesbythemile.com/
xoxo
Wanda Ann @ Memories by the Mile