I’m not a huge fan of breakfast during the work week. I don’t particularly think of eggs or toast at 5:45 in the morning. My first thought is, “really? It’s time to get up for work again?” and the second thought is, “so, where’s my cup of coffee?” It’s just really hard for me to imagine eating anything that early in the morning. It’s like my brain hasn’t fully woken up to function the whole chewing and swallowing part of eating.
What I am a fan of? Grab and go breakfasts or snacks. That’s what I usually end up doing during work weeks. I grab a cereal bar and eat it at the office with a cup of coffee. It’s much easier and by the time I get to work, I’ve had 30 minutes to let the coffee get to work.
Not all breakfast bars are healthy though and I know those Quaker Chewy bars aren’t the greatest for you, especially for breakfast, so when I saw these homemade granola bars popping up amongst us food bloggers, I knew I had to give this a try.
They’re so addicting! I could’ve eaten the entire pan and probably wouldn’t have felt bad at all ;) I had some extra walnuts sitting around from a past baking project so I threw walnuts in here, but you certainly don’t have to because of nut allergies. You can even jazz it up with peanut butter chips and chocolate drizzle or with another nut or dried fruit. This, again, is another very versatile snack that you can easily manipulate to cater to what you want. Did I mention they were healthy? Well, probably not too healthy if you load up the sweets but I still say it’s better than store-bought!
Homemade Granola Bars: Chocolate Chips & Walnuts
Yield: 12-14 bars | Prep Time: 0 minutes | Cook Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 cups quick cooking oats (not rolled oats)
1 cup crispy rice cereal
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped (I pulsed it a few times in the food processor)
4 tbsp. mini chocolate chips
Instructions:
- Lightly grease a baking sheet, set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir oats, rice cereal, and walnuts together, set aside.
- In a medium saucepot, melt the butter, honey, and brown sugar together until it comes to a bubble. Reduce the heat then cook for 2 minutes more.
- Add vanilla to the saucepot and stir.
- Pour the mixture over the dry ingredients and mix together until just moistened.
- Pour onto prepared baking sheet and press out to about 3/4 inch thick – if your sheet is too big, you can press them all to one half of the baking sheet to make them thicker. Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and press them down lightly. Let cool on countertop until room temperature or for 2 hours, then cut into bars.
Julie’s notes: If yours fall apart while cutting, pop them in the fridge for 20 minutes and then cut!
Adapted from Lauren’s Latest
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I’ve been meaning to try these, they look SO good! I love the Quaker bars, but haven’t had one in ages. I’m sure these would satisfy the craving :)
I think everyone is going to have made these before I get around to it. I wanted to make some a year ago and still haven’t. Yikes! Best be moving it to the top of my list huh? lol Yours look fantastic Julie!
I can’t do breakfast in the morning either – - I’m out of the house by 5:45, so you can just imagine what time I’m up.
I normally just take something to work, and have it once I’ve settled in, but these would be perfect to take along with me.
I need to make a whole bunch of these before our trip this coming weekend. I know I’m going to need a ton of grab and go snack type things. These are perfect :)
mmm i need to make some homemade granola bars! i love snacking on these and it would be great to have so many on hand.
I’m with ya on the breakfast in the morning thing. I’ve been making huge batches of baked oatmeal and then freezing them for individual portions. These are on my list next!
I have to be at work by 5:30 some mornings, so quick breakfasts are totally on my list too! I love these & I can’t wait to try them. BTW- just wanted to say how your photography is BOMB now :)
Wow, thanks Nicole!! That means a lot :) xoxo
aren’t these delicious? so glad we both stumbled across the same awesome recipe! yours look gorgeous, by the way.
I am a breakfast girl, but it has to be Grab-And-Go. These look perfect.
I just made these last month and I absolutely loved it! I didn’t add any nuts in mine but maybe I’ll make these again and throw them in there. And awesome tip about refrigerating them. Mine kind of fell apart so it was a pain to photograph them before they crumbled into disaster.
I love granola bars and healthy snacks like that for breakfast. I am not a huge breakfast fan, so these are perfect!
Love this- need to make them!
Love the pictures here, especially that top one! I’m so with you when it comes to breakfast (plus I need dose of chocolate to get me going) so these look absolutely perfect for me.
These are beautiful!
This has been on my “make” list for a few months now. I am just like you and can’t fathom breakfast in the wee early hours of the morning. I eat a cup of yogurt & granola around 9am once in the office & brain fully functioning! Must give these a try asap!
I’ve been wanting to make my own granola bars, but never really tried it before. This recipe looks great! Fun summer snack for my kids. Pinning it now…!
What a great recipe. I can’t think about breakfast that early either and this is a great grab and go option, plus I know what is in these granola bars.
These are soooooo pretty!
I love brunch and hate breakfast in the wee hours!! Need to try this delicious granola bar recipe soon :)
These look store-bought-and I mean that in a very nice way! Perfect!
I’m one of those people with a multitude of food allergies/intolerances. I can get around gluten and dairy in this recipe easily enough, and the others aren’t present, but I’ve been advised to not consume sugar. I’m still fairly new at it, and I do know many substitutes that work but was wondering whether it is super important to use brown sugar, for like, chemical reasons or something?
No, there is not a super important use for brown sugar in this, mostly just to sweeten it. I feel like you can use honey together with agave nectar instead if that isn’t too much sugar.
These were great. Just the granola bars I was looking for so thank you very much.
I added a pinch of salt to them.
Made these yesterday for my husband’s Marines…Played with the recipe some and made 4 different types, peanut butter chocolate chip, caramel white chocolate, cinnamon graham cracker, and milk chocolate white chocolate peanut butter. I tasted them as I was cutting them, all very good! Thanks for the recipe!