Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Hey y’all! Happy Monday.

I hope you had a fabulous Easter weekend. We sure did.

I want to share a recipe with you today. It’s Pinterest inspired, of course, and I’ve put my own little twist on it.

My friend turned me on to these, and can I just tell you I am rotten. I love granola bars, especially thick, chewy ones. When I first made these I didn’t know how they would turn out, and now I can’t eat any other. These are THE BEST!! Not kidding you. I even turned my MIL onto them and she requests them whenever we see her.

You can find the original recipe HERE.

Like I said, I’ve put my own twist on these, so I’ll share my recipe with you. They are so simple and I think the best part about them is I know exactly what’s inside them…no fillers and crazy ingredients I can’t even pronounce.

Here you go:

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

1/2 cup honey

1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

4 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup peanut butter/milk chocolate blend chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla until blended.

2. Add flour and baking soda and mix until blended.

3. Mix in peanut butter and oats and mix thoroughly.

4. Add the peanut butter and chocolate chips and mix.

5. Press mixture into a greased 13X9 dish and bake for 18-21 minutes. The edges will start to brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

6. Let stand 10 minutes and then flatten with the back of a spoon or frosting spreader.

7. Once they’ve cooled completely, you can then cut them.

If you cut them carefully, you should be able to make 18 bars.

Baggie them up in those small snack sized bags.

I store mine in my pantry. They should keep for at least a couple of weeks, if they stay around that long…they don’t last long around here. Ha!

There are so many variations that you can do to these bad boys.

One time I was out of the peanut butter chip medley and didn’t know what to use. Then I found some Heath bars I needed to use…and they made awesome bars!

Other things you could mix in:

candy bars {such as Butterfinger or Reese's Pieces}

M & M’s

white chocolate chips and walnuts {omit peanut butter}

dried fruits and coconut {omit peanut butter}

The list can go on and on.

I hope you try these the next time you’re in need of a granola bar…you won’t be disappointed. In fact, you may be spoiled just like us.

Thanks for stopping by. I’d love to hear from you if you add something different to these yummy snacks!