After the news came out last month, that hefty levels of glyphosate—the weed-killing chemical in Roundup—has been detected in breakfast cereals, granola bars, and oats, I decided it was time to get serious about making our own granola bars. (Cancer bar, anyone?) Because, I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the thought of eating any amount of Roundup. (If I wouldn’t drink it or spray it directly on my food, then I don’t want even a speck of it in the foods I’m feeding my kids.)
Hence the quest for a good crunchy granola bar recipe. Because we are a granola-bar eating family when we’re on-the-go—they’re quick and easy, marginally healthy-ish, and they pack well. With soccer and the academic year starting up again, we’ve been crazy On. The. Go. the last few weeks, so coming up with a healthier, less Roundup-y granola bar seemed like a necessity.
Isn’t it funny how it’s only when you need something that you realize you could have been making it yourself all along? Because who makes granola bars? (Okay…me. I have. But only a couple of times. The last time I made them was maybe a year or two ago. Clearly, I’m gonna have to put them into the regular baking rotation now.)
You know what’s also funny? The recipe I used previously was based on America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook* crunchy granola bar recipe, and it was good, but for some insane reason I googled a recipe yesterday to try something else. Sometimes it’s good to stick with what you know and like, and yesterday was definitely a lesson in that because the granola bars I made yesterday were an epic fail. Crumbly and chewy-ish, they were exactly not what I was going for. (They were, however, not a total loss. I simply crumbled them up onto a cookie sheet and popped it back in the oven today to crisp up a bit so it can be used as granola.)
So today I pulled out the trusty recipe and peanut buttered it up. Just like my favorite homemade granola, this recipe is super simple. To ensure these weren’t just a homemade version of the aforementioned cancer bars, I dipped into the organic granola I’d picked up at the local Amish market a few weeks back. (Bit by bit, we are transitioning more and more to organic thanks things like glyphosate.)
I *might* have let out a little “huzzah!” when these were out of the oven, cut, and cooled. They’re JUST what I was wanting. Crunchy, peanut buttery, salty and sweet. Easy to pack and take to this weekend’s three soccer games as well as next week’s classes.
(One little note: It is stupid-humid here today, and as such, the granola bars have softened a bit sitting out in the humidity. GAH. This happens with cookies, too. The humidity softens them so that they will sometimes fall apart when you pick them up. This drives me batty, but what are you going to do? You’re going to make them again when it’s not so freaking humid and do a happy dance when they stay crunchy!)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups chopped peanuts (pulse them in the food processor)
- 1/2 cup coconut oil (can substitute other oils)
- 7 cups rolled oats* (don't use the quick cook kind--it makes the texture sandy)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup ground flax seed
- 1/3 cup honey**
- 1/3 cup maple syrup (or more honey)
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 4 Tablespoons peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 F/150 C. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment or aluminum foil.
- Toast peanuts in a large skillet over medium heat, until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Transfer peanuts to large mixing bowl.
- Add oil and oats to skillet, and toast over medium heat, mixing frequently, until fragrant. Again, about 5 minutes. Transfer to the mixing bowl, and add salt and ground flax seeds.
- In the skillet, combine honey, maple syrup, and brown sugar. Cook over low heat until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla.
- Stir wet ingredients into the dry, and mix until well combined. Add chocolate chips, if desired. Press firmly into prepared jelly roll pan.
- Bake at 300 F/150 C for 25 minutes, turning the pan about halfway through. After 25 minutes, turn the oven off, but leave the pan in the oven for about 15-20 more minutes. Remove from oven, let the bars cool for about 10 minutes, then cut into 48 bars. Let cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Notes
*The America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook is an Amazon affiliate link. Thanks! Please see the right sidebar for more info.