Not your 3-bite granola bar

You know what's really annoying? Buying a box of granola bars or breakfast bars and at the end of the day they're all gone because you can only get 6 in a box! Not to mention, that they only take 3 bites to eat. How can you even enjoy that? I found an awesome granola bar recipe that tastes a lot like the Quaker brand. And it only takes minutes to put together!

Ingredients

• 4 cups rolled oats
  
• 1 cup all purpose flour
  
• 1 tsp baking soda
  
• 1 tsp vanilla
  
• 1 stick of butter, softened
  
• 1/2 cup honey
  
• 1/2 cup applesauce
  
• Up to 2 cups of extra goodness

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan. In a large mixing bowl, mix oats, flour, baking soda. In a small dish mix butter with honey, vanilla, and applesauce. Pour into dry ingredients and mix until everything is combined. Stir in your 2 cups of goodness (i.e. 1 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 marshmallows or craisins, coconut, or trail mix) ***I used 1/2 cup chocolate chip and 1/2 mini marshmallows for a more "smore granola bar." Press mixture into your prepared pan and put it in the oven for 18-22 minutes. Let it cool for 10 minutes then cut into 18 bars.

***To ensure they're not crumbly, put pan in the freezer and freeze for 10 minutes, then take them out of the pan. I put them in a gallon baggie and keep them in the freezer, sometimes I wrap them individually with cling-n-seal so Nathan can take them in his lunch box.***

***Not into oats, use 2 cups oats and 2 1/2 cups of crispy rice***

***I've made them a few times now and prefer the additon of crispy rice***

These taste amazing! My smore granola bars run at 169 calories each. Seems like a lot of calories but they're made with whole wheat oats and they're double the size of the store bought ones. I plan on trying them with whole wheat flour and a healthier extra goodness rather than my chocolate and marshmallows. Give them a try, your family will love you for it!