Homemade Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

You know how they say that growing boys are bottomless pits that you can never fill up... well girls are not that much different in my experience. The first question I get in the afternoon when I pick them up from school is not "Hi Mom how was your day?" its "Whats for snack, when is snack, can we have snack NOW"! Then immediately after snack its "Whats for dinner!" (My standard reply is, "Food!"). Feeding 3 hungry growing girls is a daily challenge for me! Packed in their lunch everyday for school the girls have a granola bar, chocolate chip is their favorite. So 3 granola bars a day times 5 days a week is 15 granola bars a week! The kind of bar I used to buy came with 10 in a box so we were using a box and a bit every week.

Now lets get on to the nutritional value of said granola bars...they aren't very big are mainly filled with air and they do not fill the girls up!

Being unemployed this summer inspired some creative thinking and I found a recipe on another blog, Thrifty Third Avenue Girl, who I have to thank for the basis of this recipe but as always I have modified it to suit our families tastes. I make a batch a week and the kids love them!

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats, uncooked

1 cup all-purpose flour

(optional I also add 1 scoop of soy protein powder)

1/2 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark, doesn't matter)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup maple syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (real or imitation)

1 large egg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Use a 13 x 9" metal baking pan. Line pan with foil; grease foil.

2. I use my Kitchen Aid mixer to mix this up but a regular mixer should be fine too. In large bowl, mix oats, flour, chocolate chips, sugar, salt, oil, syrup, vanilla, and egg until blended. It is going to be really sticky! Get your hands wet and, pat oat mixture into prepared pan.

3. Bake 25 minutes or until edges turn pale golden. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

4. When cool, invert pan and remove foil. Cut length-wise into the size of strips you would like and then cut crosswise in half. I store mine in a Tupperware container and they last the whole week just fine!