Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bar

So this recipe comes from one of my favorite blogs: Peas and Thank You. I think Mama Pea is hilarious and I’m totally jealous of her awesome looking kitchen and incredible photography skills. Not to mention her adorable daughters. And even though we aren’t vegan her recipe posts still make my mouth water.

These granola bars are her healthy makeover of Quaker granola bars. I love chewy granola bars and go through phases where I' eat them all the time. I also frequently buy them for Doug’s lunch. But I’m trying to watch our intake of HFCS and sadly my beloved granola bars include HFCS. But Mama Pea’s don’t. This makes me very happy.

Mama Pea’s bars are vegan and mine are not. This is because I can’t find vegan versions of two ingredients here. One is vegan butter. I’ve used Earth Balance before and really like it but when I went to make these bars I discovered that I was out and a trip to the store showed that they no longer carry this. Boo! The other ingredient is the chocolate chips. I’ve checked every store in town and no one has vegan chips. Double boo! And I actually got lucky with the brown rice syrup. I can’t get it here but I did finally find it at the food co-op and hour away. Oh and I also cannot find brown rice cereal here so I had to use regular rice cereal. But if you can find all these ingredients you can make these just like Mama Pea.

I thought these bars were incredible and they held up really well. I wrapped them individually in plastic wrap and stored them in a zip lock bag in the fridge since it was really humid here when I made them. They last a week no problem. Definitely give these a try. They are really tasty and come together in no time.

Crispy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

From Peas and Thank You

2 Cups Old-fashioned Oats

2 Cups (Brown) Rice Crispy Cereal

1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 Cup Brown Rice Syrup

1 Tablespoon Margarine (vegan or regular)

1/4 Cup Sugar

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips (non-dairy optional)

Preheat over to 325 degrees, Spray an 8 x8 pan.

Combine oats, cereal, flour, and baking soda.

In a small saucepan heat brown rice syrup, margarine, sugar, vanilla, and salt slowly over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir constantly. Allow to thicken slightly and then remove from heat. Let cool slightly.

Pour the mixture from the sauce pan over the cereal and oat mixture and stir to evenly cover. Then pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Press the mixture down lightly.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes. The bars will become crispier the longer they bake.

Cool completely before cutting.