The Easiest Homemade Granola Bar Recipe – WFMW

I really didn’t intend to write a diet-related Works for Me Wednesday post. Honest. My life does not revolve around my new healthy diet. Really!

But when we made these granola bars Sunday afternoon and they were sooo easy and sooo yummy (so yummy that I since cut the recipe in half so that I couldn’t eat the whole pan in one sitting!

) and they were ready to eat in about 15 minutes start-to-finish…

And when we made them again last night and I actually calculated the calorie count verses that of a snickers bar (because these granola bars are just as satisfying as a candy bar, I think) and the numbers totally blew me away…

Well.. you do the math.

So here it is. These granola bars are what is working to help satisfy my sweet tooth while I’m changing my diet and exercise for a healthier lifestyle. I adapted this recipe from THIS recipe on allrecipes.com.

Low-Cal Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

• 1 1/4 cups crispy rice cereal
• 1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
• 1 serving chocolate chips (look on the back of the bag, mine read 30 pieces for 70 calories)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 crunchy peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• greased 8X8 or 9X9 glass dish.

1. In a mixing bowl, mix the oats, rice cereal, and chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
2. In a microwaveable dish, heat the corn syrup and brown sugar (about a minute or two) until melted and mix together well. Stir in the vanilla and peanut butter. This will also serve to cool the mixture enough before you add it to the cereal.
3. With a spatula or spoon, scoop the mixture into the cereal and fold in until everything is coated evenly.
4. With the spatula or the back of the spoon, press the granola mixture into the greased pan until packed firmly. How well you pack it in determines how well the granola bar holds together later.
5. Let the pan sit about ten minutes until cooled and then cut into 8 pieces.

When cut into 8 pieces, your granola bar will be a reasonable and satisfying size – larger than most granola bars on the market.

With the crunch and the chocolate it will also be as satisfying as most candy bars. However, this granola bar only packs a punch of 164 calories.

Oh, and those candy bars?

Regular Snickers = 273 calories

King Size Snickers = 541 calories

Milky Way = 260 calories

Nestle Crunch Bar = 230 calories

Again, do the math, right? So if you’ve got a chocolate craving skip the Snickers (though I do love me some Snickers!) and whip up a pan of these instead. Just, uh… don’t eat the whole pan in one sitting. It kinda defeats the purpose. Oh, and don’t make a pan everyday, either, cuz, well, that kinda defeats the purpose, too, right? 🙂

Works For Me Wednesday is brought to us by Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer. Stop on by!