Great Granola Bar Recipe

This is a fantastic recipe for chewy granola bars. I've stopped buying granola bars and started making these instead. These cost at least half the price of store-bought bars. I'll warn you, these are way too good! These don't last long at my house.

Chewy Granola Bars

Ingredients:

2 cups rice cereal

2 cups dry oatmeal (uncooked)

1/2 cup raisins, dates, or your favorite dried fruit

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

Cooking spray

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine cereal, oats, and raisins (or dried fruit of your choice). In a small pan, mix brown sugar and light corn syrup. Heat and stir until boiling. Remove from heat, and stir in peanut butter and vanilla. Pour over cereal mixture and mix well. Spray hands with cooking spry and press mixture firmly into a 9x13-inch pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Cool in refrigerator about an hour, then cut into 16 bars. Store in an airtight container.

Each bar provides: 165 calories, 3 grams protein, 27 grams carbohydrates, 5 grams fat, 79 milligrams sodium, and 1 gram fiber.

Alterations to try:

*Add one scoop of vanilla flavored whey protein powder---to get more protein

*Substitute one cup crushed Total brand cereal for the crisp rice cereal---to add more vitamins

*Add a 1/4 tsp. cinnamin for a different flavor combination

*Use colored sprinkles to make them more festive

*Shape them into balls, squares, triangles, or rectangles while they are still warm