Easy Granola Bar Recipes

Granola bars came from humble beginnings. The first ones that came on the scene were basically a blend of cereals like oats, nuts, seeds and maybe some dried fruit - packed into a bar shape either by cooking or drying.

In time, granola bars and their newer cousin, the energy bar, have evolved into the healthy choice for a snack as opposed to a cookie or brownie. Kids get them stuffed into their lunches by moms who hope they like the healthy alternative to candy or store bought treats. Active adults feel good that they are eating something good for them.

How ever you feel about granola bars, sooner or later, you want to be able to make them yourself. But who wants to make those dry oat things.

Inspired by many of the commercial granola snacks on the market, I decided to investigate making a better than average granola bar. No, that is to say, a fabulous gourmet treat. No boring bars here. Let's see what goes into a good bar...

Next time you are at the grocery store or bulk foods aisle, get yourself a pound or two of your favorite trail mix and mix up a batch of your personal favorite treat to take along on your next hiking trip or to stuff in your lunch.

(These are not your average oat filled bar)

So, who says granola bars have to contain oats? I say granola bars can contain just about anything you want.

Why not make them with just nuts as seen in this image?

Really there are no limits... a personal favorite is cranberries and white chocolate.

Or mix up a batch of Mocha Almond Crunch or Almond Bliss bars.

Not into chocolate? Try the Ginger Snap bars which taste like an old fashioned ginger snap cookie!

Make your own granola bars! The sky is the limit with this recipe template.

This is YOUR bar. Mix it up any way you like. This one is Triple Chocolate: cocoa, dark chocolate, and white chocolate sandwiched in an oat/rice cereal mix.

There are only so many ways to compose a granola bar. Either you bake them, dry them or stir in a candy type syrup. You can find dozens of recipes for how to bake granola bars. There are a few that talk about making a dry fruit based bar. But what I am talking about here is a candy syrup based bar.

Candy syrups don't need to be corn syrup, either. You can cook honey, rice syrup, molasses or any combination thereof.

Once you decide on the syrup, you then mix it with your choice of dry crunchy ingredients:

Oats (well, why not?)

rice cereal (a staple in most bars!)

any crunchy cereal/snack like pretzels, Chex (tm)

Bulk ready-mix granola

Bulk trail mix

dried fruit: raisins, cranberries, blueberries, coconut (uh huh!)

you name it!

Optional ingredients:

Chocolate chips - Milk, semisweet, dark, white

coffee - espresso or regular grind

spices - ginger, cinnamon, pepper

flavors - vanilla, orange,

Butter (yes!)

Stir these together. press into a pan. Cool, Cut, EAT!

Years of making granola bars have taught me a few things... namely do it fast and easy! Here are my recommended tips.