Chocolate Chip Pecan Granola Bars
When hunger strikes, I’m always looking for great snack ideas for me and my son. These Chocolate Chip Pecan Granola Bars are perfect for a mid-day snack or to tuck into a lunchbox.
Pin Chocolate Chip Pecan Granola Bars to make later.
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I have loved granola bars for as long as I can remember but I’ve never really made them from scratch.
Then my son started asking for them and I thought, they can’t be that difficult to make. I was right! This chocolate chip version is so easy, kids can help.
How Can Kids Help with a Granola Recipe?
- Measure ingredients
- Gently stir the cereal, oats, chocolate chips, and nuts
- Taste the chocolate chips
- Stir the honey, brown sugar, and corn syrup with adult supervision
- Press the mixture into the baking dish, with clean hands
Because they are no-bake, they are ready to enjoy in about an hour. If you want to speed that up, put the pan in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.
I’ve stored these on the counter in the pan covered in foil but I can totally see sending these in a college care package. I’d wrap them individually then pack them in a Ziploc bag. They should ship nicely.
What can I add-in to the Chocolate Chip Pecan Granola Bars?
Once the bars were set and my son and I tasted them we started brainstorming ideas for more flavors. Here’s what we came up with:
- Substitute Cocoa Krispies for Rice Krispies for even more chocolate flavor.
- Use semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips.
- Add 1 cup of sweetened coconut.
- Substitute carob chips for the chocolate chips.
- Substitute almonds or walnuts for the pecans or omit nuts altogether.
- Switch out the type of nut butter you use. Try pecan butter, almond butter, or Biscoff butter.
- Use white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.
As you can see, the possibilities are endless. Leave me a comment with your favorite flavor combinations.
Just be careful you don’t add in too much or the peanut butter mixture won’t be the binding agent you need to hold it all together.
Other recipes that use oats
- No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oat Bars
- Chocolate Chip Maple Pecan Granola
- Almond Pecan Granola
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Chocolate Chip Pecan Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups quick-cooking oats
- 2 cups Rice Krispies cereal
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup corn syrup
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup peanut butter
- Softened butter to grease the pan
Instructions
- Use softened butter to coat a 9”x13” pan. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together oats, Rice Krispies, cinnamon, pecans and chocolate chips. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add honey, corn syrup, and brown sugar. Stir constantly, until the sugar dissolves. Reduce heat if mixture starts to bubble.
- Over low heat mix in the peanut butter.
- Immediately, pour the peanut butter mixture over the dry ingredients. Stir to coat and combine. For best results and to evenly combine ingredients, use your hands. Be careful, mixture is hot!
- For best results, place a sheet of wax paper over the granola in the pan and firmly press. The mixture must be compressed or you will end up with granola snack mix and not granola bars.
- Allow the bars to cool and become firm for about 30 minutes.
- Use a sharp knife to cut into bars. I store them on the counter, covered with foil. You can individually wrap them in wax paper or put into zipper bags as an alternative..
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Granola bars are my favorite! These are the best on the snacks that I would like to have in my home. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
These look great and will be an fun thing to make with my niece!