Chewy Granola Bars

My sous chef exclaiming, "Granola!".
(Taken years ago!)

Since discovering I have gluten, dairy and soy allergies, my diet has been drastically changed. 

Thankfully, this doesn’t affect my coffee intake!
I thought I would be forever doomed to eat only crunchy granola bars that lacked the deliciousness of granola bars I used to eat, until now.

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cup oatmeal
• 1/2cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup flour (rice flour works great for gluten free option)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 cup chocolate chips (Enjoy Life brand makes soy, dairy and gluten free chips)
• 1/3 cup peanut butter (chunky works best)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 6 Tbsp. melted butter (Olivio brand makes coconut butter or use 4-5T coconut oil )
• 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then grease an 8”×8” pan. (Oddly, my husband actually enjoys and usually prefers the crunchy granola bars. All you have to do to achieve a crunch is to thin the bars. I just pressed the mix down on a greased 9”x12” instead of an 8”x8” and baked it for the same time to achieve a crunch.)

Stir dry ingredients together then whisk the liquid ingredients.  Add it together and press it VERY FIRMLY into the pan. Bake for 25-35 minutes. They will be browned on the edges and a little on top but seem soft, let them cool completely before cutting.

Wrap them individually. I find the cheap fold top sandwich bags work great.

I find these granola bars go best with a cup of coffee, but then again almost everything goes great with a cup of coffee!