How to Make Homemade Granola Bars

Granola Bars are great for a couple of reasons, they're healthy and they're easy to grab when you're on the go. If you have kids that are consistently running late for the school bus, they are a great thing for them to eat while walking to the bus stop.

Buying granola bars at the grocery store can be expensive. You can make your own at home for considerably less, and they are also healthier but not having all the preservatives in them. You can play around with them by adding dried fruits, peanut butter or chocolate chips to make them more appealing for your taste buds.

Here's how you can make your own granola bars at home!

First you have to start off with the basic granola mix.

For ingredients, you will need:

3 cups of dry oatmeal

½ cup butter or margarine

½ cup honey or maple syrup

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup nuts, dried fruit, or whatever you'd like to throw in!

Melt the margarine in a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the honey and salt. Finally add the oatmeal and whatever you decide to throw in. Turn the mixture onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Spread it out evenly and bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Allow it to cool.

To make this into bars, you'll need the following:

3 cups of your oatmeal mixture

3 tablespoons margarine or butter

½ cup peanut butter (obviously don't use if there is a peanut allergy in your household)

2 medium eggs

1-teaspoon vanilla

In a 2-quart saucepan, melt the margarine and peanut butter together. You want to use a lower heat here, and stir frequently to melt evenly. Crack both eggs into a bowl, mix and set aside. When the margarine, peanut butter mixture is melted, whisk in your eggs quickly to avoid scrambled eggs. The mixture will thicken and turn into a dough. Beat in the vanilla and stir in your homemade granola mixture. You can add additional ingredients here also if you'd like.

Turn the mixture into a well-oiled 8-inch square pan and chill the bars in the refrigerator until hard. You can cut this into roughly 16 squares.

This is so easy to make, and so much worth the effort. Granola bars are a great convenience food, and by making them at home you can skip out on the convenience food prices at the supermarket! Keep your family healthy, and your grocery bill cheap!