Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Homemade granola bars


I found a bag of marshmallows in the pantry today, along with a big box of rice cereal. I was so tempted to make rice krispie treats, but instead I made some healthy homemade granola bars.

Here's what I threw into mine....however you can play around with ingredients, this is just what I had in the house. To make it even healthier, you could omit the butter and use Kashi or another healthier cereal instead of the rice krispies. Any kind of nut would also be a good addition.

Peanut Butter Oat Bars
based on this recipe from suite101.com

3 1/2 cups puffed rice cereal
3 c quick-cooking oats
3 oz raisins
1/4 c toasted pumpkin seeds
1/4 c craisins
1/2 c almond butter
1/2 c peanut butter
1/4 c maple syrup
1/4 c honey
2 TB butter

Spray a 13 x 9 pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix puffed rice cereal, oats, raisins, craisins, and pumpkin seeds. Heat peanut butter, maple syrup, honey and butter on medium-low heat for a few minutes, until melted. Stir. Pour over cereal mixture. Stir to coat. Press mixture into prepared pan using your hands. Freeze 30 minutes. Cut into bars. Keep refrigerated.

Makes 16 bars, 235 calories each.

2 comments:

Justin said...

ok, i'm inspired now. i never thought of making granola bars at home, but the recipe and photo look really good.

The Messy Baker said...

I love the endless variations on granola bars. I just did a knock off of Starbucks' oat and fruit bars, but like how you use peanut butter. I might get decadent and try cashew butter instead since we don't keep PB in the house often.