Homemade Soft & Chewy Granola Bars

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.