granola bars in 15 minutes {food on friday}

Today's {food on friday} feature is homemade granola bars!

I'm really excited about this {fof} because I get to eat quite a few of these bars this weekend! I'm leaving to attend the most amazing fitness event- a Les Mills Super Quarterly bright and early tomorrow! I teach BodyPump and BodyCombat, both of which are Les Mills group fitness classes, and this weekend is the highlight of a LM instructor's year! We get to be taught by the very best- the people who create the choreography for the classes we teach every week. It's an all-out crazy two days of as much exercising as you can do! And it's going to be great! Exercising, a mini-girl's getaway, dinners out, and fellowship with other instructors- so, so exciting!!

Luckily, we do get a few breaks in between the multiple classes, so we have time to recharge before the next class. I'm taking these tasty little treats with me to refuel- my favorite granola bars! I found a recipe in a newsletter a few years ago, changed it up to meet our taste, and I've been using it to make my own granola bars ever since.

 

For today's {food on friday} I'm going to show you how to make granola bars at home!

 

Now they probably don't fall under the healthiest granola bar category, but they definitely taste good.

 

They don't have preservatives or artificial ingredients, and it's way more frugal to make them at home!

 

A 10x15 pan of granola bars using real butter and honey will cost me about $3.35 to make- which is far cheaper than one box of eight tiny bars for the same price at the store! Better for you and cheaper too- I'll take it! :)

 

Here's what you'll need:

 

 

butter, salt, vanilla, brown sugar, oats, honey, and a little ground cinnamon is optional, depending on the flavor you want.

 

These ingredients will give you a basic granola bar, and you can add your favorite mix-ins if you'd like!

 

Preheat your oven to 450.

 

 

Melt 3/4 of a cup of butter.

 

{I've used margarine and it works. I'm guessing coconut oil might work here too if you wanted to try it!}

 

 

Then combine all of your ingredients...

 

1/2 cup of honey {or corn syrup, or pancake syrup- less healthy but they work in a pinch! Hey, we've all been there!}

 

 

and add 1 teaspoon of vanilla

 

 

then 1 teaspoon of salt.

 

 

Add 4 cups of oats. Old-fashioned or quick will work.

 

 

And a dash of cinnamon (if you want to!), and 1/2-1 cup of your favorite add-in.

 

You can go the healthy way and add some healthy flax seed, or raisins. Personally, I love chocolate chips! ;)

 

Stir it all up. It should be kind of sticky and wet. All that sugar and honey did the trick.

 

 

Spread it all out in a 10x15 jelly roll pan. Any lipped baking pan will probably work here.

 

 

I pressed a few raisins into half of my batch for the kiddos.

 

 

Bake for 9-11 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. Watch them carefully, because they will burn in no time at all.

 

In fact, they will catch on fire if you forget about them.

 

And your oven's alarm will go off and beep like crazy and the display will flash "f11, f11, f11" over and over again. And it won't reset.

 

Not that I'd know that from personal experience or anything.

 

If you want them to be crunchier, let them stay in a little longer.

 

Just don't forget about them, okay? ;)

 

 

Let them sit for a couple of minutes to cool, and then score them with a pizza cutter or knife.

 

 

When they cool, remove from the pan and enjoy!

 

  

 

here's the full recipe for you:

 

 

and you can print it here:

 

easy granola bars

 

I hope you enjoy them! I know I will this weekend! ;)

Linking up at iLove Life {in the kitchen}!