No-Bake Granola Bars

I try to keep granola bars in my pantry for a quick go-to snack. When my blood sugar drops and I need a little something to keep me going in the mid-morning, I enjoy a small granola bar. However, I find the ones from the grocery store are often way too sweet.

In my recent issue of Southern Living Magazine, I found a recipe for No-Bake Granola Bars that sounded like the perfect substitute for the purchased variety! These were so delicious and so inexpensive to make. I found items at Aldi that were helpful in that department!

Granola bars a

Here are the minimal ingredients:

No-Bake Granola Bars

Ingredients

1 cup crisp rice cereal (such as Rice Krispies)
3/4 cup uncooked old-fashioned regular rolled oats
1 cup creamy almond butter (8 oz.) – I substituted Peanut Butter
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

How to Make It

Step 1

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. Toss together cereal and oats in a large bowl.

Step 2

Place almond butter, maple syrup, cinnamon, and salt in a small saucepan; heat over medium. Cook, stirring constantly, until smooth, about 30 seconds. Pour mixture over cereal and oats; gently mix together with one hand until combined.

Step 3

Spread mixture evenly into prepared pan, pressing firmly to form a compact, even layer. Chill until fully set, about 30 minutes. Cut into 12 bars.

If you go to the SL site, you’ll find many varieties to try! I used the one below and loved the addition of the little chocolate chips. Yum!

Chocolate Chip-Pecan-Sea Salt
Stir 1/3 cup chopped roasted pecans and 1/3 cup miniature milk chocolate chips into cereal mixture in Step 1. Sprinkle top of granola mixture with 1/4 teaspoon finely ground sea salt in Step 3 before chilling.

granola bars 1

You could conjure up all kinds of ways to add things to this recipe. Just do it. The flavors are great! Mine did crumble a little, but the ones that were too crumbly were a great topping on my morning yogurt!

What do you grab when you need a mid-morning snack?

With love from my country kitchen,

Denise Signature 150 px