I know I should begin with an introduction of some type since this is my first time posting on MFP, however that makes me feel like an awkward, insecure teenage girl trying to convince people to like me and my blog, My Kitchen Escapades. So instead, I will just have to win you over with my recipes because my food does a better job of convincing people to like me than my personality. Honestly.
- Food…..and mountains of it! — Not only are you feeding your family but also the endless supply of friends and neighbors who know you keep mountains of food at your house.
- Entertainment — This comes in so many different forms depending on a child’s age and interests, but it all boils down to one critical point: if your kids get bored, they come and find YOU!!!
- Work — Everyone home 24/7 = Everything a mess 24/7 if everyone doesn’t do their part to survive.
- Time — It can be 15 minutes or it can be a whole afternoon but those moments of time you spend together as a family is what your kids will remember when they reminisce about the Summer of 2013.
**UPDATE 3/7/14** I have received many questions about using coconut oil instead of butter, and agave instead of honey, so I created a revised recipe using those substitutions! Just click here for the instructions and tell me what you think. I can’t tell the difference! Carole
No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars
(recipe makes a 9×13 pan)
recipe by Carole Jones of My Kitchen Escapades
2 cups quick cooking oats (or pulse whole oats in a food processor a bit)
1 C rice crispy cereal
1/4 C shredded coconut
1/4 C butter
1/4 C honey
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
Mix -In variations listed below
1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the oats, cereal and coconut. Set a small saucepan over medium high heat and melt the butter. Add the honey, brown sugar and salt. Stir together then leave it alone as it comes to a boil. Once the boil has reached all the way around the edges of the pan, begin timing. Allow this mixture to boil for 2 minutes and 15 seconds. During this time, you may need to turn the heat down a bit so it doesn’t overflow, but be sure it keeps boiling.
2. Add the vanilla and then pour the mixture over the oats, using a rubber spatula to get all the sugar mixture out of the pan. Mix the ingredients together until the oats are completely coated. Add in your desired mix-in then press very firmly into a lightly greased 9×13″ pan. If you like your bars thicker, you can use a smaller pan. If you do not press firmly enough, the bars will fall apart when you eat them. Place them in the fridge for 20 minutes then cut to size.
Chocolate Chip
Add 1/2 C of mini chocolate chips to the finished mixture before pressing into the pan, allowing it cool just a bit or you will end up with melted chips. Sprinkle on a few extra chips over the top after they are pressed into the pan.
White Chocolate Cranberry
Add 1/3 C of white chocolate chips and 1/3 C of Craisins to the finished mixture before pressing into the pan, allowing it to cool just a bit first or you will end up with melted chips.
Candy Bar
Add 1/3 C of Heath bar pieces, 1/3 C of mini M&M’s and 1/3 C of chopped pretzels to the finished mixture before pressing into the pan.
Peanut Butter
Add 2 Tb of peanut butter to the finished sugar mixture before pouring it over the oats. Once mixed with the oats, add 1/2 C peanut butter chips before pressing into the pan.
Raisin Nut
Add 1/3 C of chopped raisins and 1/3 C of chopped pecans to the finished mixture before pressing into the pan.
Here are a few more recipes you should try from Carole:
Almond Poppy Seed Coffee Cake with Almond Streusel
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I love granola bars, and this is an awesome recipe!
I love this idea! Healthier and cheaper than store bought, too! Love your photo, also, very fun! Thanks for linking at ShareAtopia! If you’d like a featured button, I have one on our about page.
Yummy! Would love you to share it at our Ladies Only Blog Share Link Party which is a summer theme this week! Visiting from the Pin Junkie link party! 🙂
I love that there are so many variations to choose from. Thx for sharing Carol!
DELICIOUS!
Sharon and Denise,
We linked back to your darling site! Thanks for hosting and see ya next week! Tracy – The Middle Child
Yum! We love granola bars in our house so these would be perfect! I can’t wait to give them a try.
Holy crap! Now Mommy makes the best granola bars! I used caramel/milk chocolate swirl chips. This is going to be a problem. I can see these as more addictive than Rice Krispie treats…
yum pinning these I have everything but the honey…on the list!
Thanks Mel. We love having Carole guest posting with us. Her recipes are trusted and amazing!
How long can you store these for?
I asked Carole and she has the same results as I have in my house. They never last longer than a week because we eat them all!
Can you sub the coconut for something else? I’m allergic to it, and I’d like to try these.
Sure, oats, sunflower seeds, cereal would all work. Enjoy!
I made these a couple days ago and they were awesome! I followed the recipe exactly for the chocolate chip version. They were pretty sweet, next time I may cut back some of the brown sugar or honey just a bit. I probably also compacted them too much, they were REALLY compact. I really smushed them down, maybe I overdid it a little! I also like thicker bars, so I made mine in an 8×8 pan, and they were all gone by the next morning. Thanks for the recipe!
Looks like a great easy to make recipe! Perfect hiking snack. Love that there’s different varieties to make too. Also…that coffee cake looks delicious! I’m gonna check out that recipe next. Thanks!
Glad you came by and gave us a look!
These are great! I’ve made them twice now, thank you!
So glad to hear it! Thanks Cassandra!
I just made these and noticed the directions didn’t actually say when to add the vanilla, so the vanilla didn’t make it in. I used dried cranberries and crushed heheath bars and they are pretty tasty!
So glad you liked them, Rachel. They make a perfect back to school treat! Crushed heath bars sound great to me.
I have made these bars 6-7 times and they are delicious. So easy to stir up, even at the last minute, and they give you the glow you feel when you’re eating something good for you! But I had the same problem: unless I’ve missed it, the instructions don’t tell you when to add the vanilla. I add it when I take the syrup mixture off the stove. Another tip: I hate to get my hands all yucky pressing the bars in the pan, so I spray Pam on the rubbermaid spatula and press down that way. I also placed plastic wrap over the bars so I could press them down more firmly before refrigerating them. Again, thanks so much for a great recipe!
Thanks Terrie! These are great tips. We are so happy to hear that this has become a favorite at your house!
Love the taste of the granola bars, but I’ve varied the recipe four times and I can’t seem to get them to stick together!! Any tips or tricks?
Carole says to press down really firmly. If you do not press firmly enough they will crumble when you eat them. Hopefully this will solve the problem and you can enjoy your yummy Granola Bars even more!
What a great idea!
How do you like to store the bars?
Hi, Sil! I store them in any airtight container. Enjoy!
I was wondering if there was a way to “over pack” them? I pushed them hard to pack it in the pan but when I took it out of the fridge to cut, they started to crumble? I still have bars but the sides are crumbly. Also, I didn’t add the coconut and vanilla. Would that make them more crumbly?
April, it might have made a difference that the coconut and vanilla were omitted. Hopefully they still tasted good and you can just sprinkle the extra on some ice cream!
I just made these and they are delicious! I am hooked! Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Rachel, so glad you liked them!
These are delicious! I substituted organic coconut palm sugar for the sugar and they turned out fantastic. I will never ever buy granola bars from the grocery store again. Thank you for the awesome recipe!
We are thrilled to hear it, Katie!
How do you store these?
In any airtight container, Staci.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I have most of the ingredients on hand, and what I don’t is on sale for me to buy this week So I am super excited to make these! I love how they have no dairy (except for the butter, but I am going to use oil and honey). I have two questions though. Could I substitute the coconut oil for canola oil? And should the shredded coconut be sweetened or unsweetened?
Whenever I go to the grocery store, looking to buy granola bars, it is a challenge. I am lactose intolerant, and most of the bars there have milk in them. I found ONE kind that didn’t, but later thought to myself, ‘am I really just going to eat this one granola bar for the rest of my life??’ It’s kind of boring. Now I can make my own, and put in whatever I want! Thanks so much!
Oh I am so glad you found this too Adriana! I am going to guess that you can substitute the coconut oil without a problem and the shredded coconut will just be to your taste. This has been one of our more popular posts. We’d love to hear how it works for you!
Trying these now, but when does the vanilla go in? After boiling?
Yep! After boiling the liquid is the perfect time to add the vanilla. You are going to love these!
You make it seem so easy but the transition from boiling sugar to pour on top of the oats mixture allows you about a minute to be able to scrape it all out and thoroughly mix it before it’s a hard consistency already. Dissapointed in this.
I agree with you, I make my own granola all the time, with a similar boiled mixture, but then I bake the granola. I had the same issue with these, once boiled and poured, the mixture immediately stuck to the sides of my bowl and hardened before I could mix it all in, leaving me with not enough liquid to coat all of the ingredients. They are currently in the fridge but I could tell as I pressed them that they were probably not going to set up! I am wondering if making more of the liquid mixture would help ensure everything gets coated!
Hi Anna! I would love to know if these set up for you.
For those that had their’s crumble, I used a smaller 8×8 pan to smash them down really hard. Juat make sure to place parchment paper in between so the pans don’t stick together.
Great idea! Thanks.
Made these and love them, but I’ve read this recipie 20 times and it never says when to add the vanilla , I added it to he wet mixture before bringing it to a boil , but not having it listed can be confusing.
Hi Sara! We contacted the original author of the recipe and here is what she had to say:
“Add the vanilla after it is finished boiling otherwise the alcohol just boils away and it has no effect.”
We have made the correction in our recipe. Thanks so much for the heads up!
I hate coconut, so what should I add in place of it? Or can I just leave it out completely? Since it’s only 1/4 cup I’m hoping it won’t make much of a difference!
Hi Jackie, I would think that you could omit the coconut and be just fine!
Hi! Thank you so much for this recipe I am making them today because I am snowed in and bored haha can I leave out the coconut all together as I can’t get to store thank you!
Shanti are you back east? Sure hope you’re okay! You should be able to leave the coconut out and be just fine. Let us know how you like them!
Help!
I made these following the directions exactly – right down to 2 min. 15 sec boil time. I added just 1 small handful of crumbled up cinnamon toast crunch (organic knock off version), BUT they wouldn’t fit in my 9×13 pan – there just wasn’t enough mix. So I transferred them to a smaller pan & pressed the life out of them. I mean, really pressed the life outta them. some stuck together to the point that they were almost hard to bite into, but most wouldn’t stay together.
HELP! what did I do wrong?? Did I boil at too high a temp.?
Hi Skye!
We contacted the author of the original recipe and here is her reply:
I would suggest lowering the flame once it comes to a boil and if she is going to add more dry ingredients, she should remove some oats. They were probably too dry.
Sure hope that helps!
I just made these this evening, they turned out amazing!!! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe 🙂
I read the comments before I made them -as I usually do- and being a bit worried they would crumble, I found a second pan that fit snugly into the 9×13…and stood on it. It may be weird, but it worked probablly much better than my weak little arms 🙂
Kelly, we are SO glad to hear that you liked these! Aren’t they yummy?
Any ideas on how to salvage ones that fell apart? Some stuck together in little balls but the rest fell apart. I feel like I could make another sugar mixture and salvage the rest-any thoughts from anyone?
I made these a few times now and everyone loves them. I found caramel bites and added 1/2 a cup to my last batch. (today) It works fantastic in keeping the bars from falling apart. Thank You so much for this recipe. It is FANTASTIC!
Caramel bites sound tasty, Bunny! We are super glad to hear you like the recipe!
Made these and loved them! The boiling of brown sugar and butter is like making homemade caramels- must be why these granola bars taste so good.
So glad you liked them! Thanks for taking the time to let us know. It makes us happy to get happy comments.:)
Has anyone tried making these without the shredded coconut?
Hi Leah! We’ve had lots of people make additions and substitutions and have had good results. If you don’t like coconut, I think they would turn out fine without it. Good luck!
I am hoping to try making these today. A couple of questions: How long do these last? Do you store them in the fridge or cupboard? Thanks for the recipe!
They will last a week or so in an airtight container. But, they are likely to get gobbled up before that!
Thank you for this awesome recipe! It turned out great and not to mention healthy:)
Question: do I store the ziplock in the frige or is it ok to leave them in my cupboard?
So glad to hear that you liked it! I would place them in the fridge to help them last longer. Thanks for stopping by Jess!
Thanks for such a great recipe. I cant wait to try these. although i am celiac so i will be making these using gluten free oats and gluten free crispy rice.