— Recipes —

Go-to Granola

December 22, 2018

Like a lot of people, I have recipes that I seem to make over and over again. This granola recipe is one of them. I make it almost ever week because it is a favorite in our house. There is nothing better than snacking on this granola with some coffee. It is also one of the recipes I have people asking for regularly, so here it is!

The bars are full of Cheerios, oats and flax seed for fiber, whole peanuts and peanut butter for protein, and dried cranberries and chocolate chips for sweetness. It is the perfect combination for a fulling snack!

For the “glue” you need something to hold together the bars. I will leave this up to you. A few options are honey, organic brown rice syrup, or corn syrup. Each one holds the bars together a little differently.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 6 cups “O” cereal, such as Cheerios
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (mini or regular size)
  • 1 cup unsalted peanuts
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/3 cup flax seed (optional)
  • 1 cup honey, organic brown rice syrup or corn syrup
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter (I use Costco’s organic or Jiff’s whipped peanut butter)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Spread oats in a baking pan. The pan size does not matter as you are only lightly toasting them in the oven.
  3. While the oats are browning in the oven, combine the Cheerios, peanuts, dried cranberries, chocolate chips and flax seed into a large bowl. Set aside.
  4. Warm over medium heat the peanut butter, syrup or honey [your choice], brown sugar and vanilla. Stir occasionally so the brown sugar dissolves and peanut butter becomes smooth.
  5. When the oats are done, remove them from the oven and mix into large bowl with the cereal mix.
  6. Lightly grease a 9 x 12 pan.
  7. Pour the syrup mixture over the cereal mix. Stir with a wooden spoon until all ingredients are mixed together. Leaving no dry ingredients.
  8. Immediately place in the lightly greased 9 x 12 pan, pressing firmly, filling the entire pan.
  9. Let it cool for 30 minutes before cutting. I like to cut them in rectangles, but if you are serving a lot of people squares would be best.
  10. Store in air-tight container. This will allow for you to enjoy all week without the granola bars drying out.