Ok, internets. Matt and I eat a lot of granola bars. They are a great quick easy snack that helps hold us over to the next meal. So, obviously, I tripled this recipe so I could go longer than a week without making them. My batch made 24 good sized bars, so I’m sure with a single batch you’d get about 8. Unless, of course, you want a bit smaller snack and then you could probably get 16 out of a single batch.

I adapted this recipe from smitten kitchen. For some reason they taste like Girl Scout Samoas (or Carmel Delites, depending on where your girl’s troop gets their cookies) even though there is no coconut or caramel involved in this recipe. I’m certainly not complaining though. Deb from smitten kitchen says these freeze well, and even though I made a huge batch, I have no idea if this holds true because of the sheer number of granola bars we eat in this household.

You’ll need:
1-2/3 cup quick oats
½ cup white sugar
1/3 cup oats processed to a fine flour-like texture
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 ounces milk chocolate chips
1/3 cup walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons melted butter
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 350°. Line 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper, allowing the ends of the parchment paper to come up two opposite sides. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together vanilla, butter, liquid sweeteners, and water. Toss wet ingredients with the dry until the mixture is evenly crumbly. Spread into the prepared baking pan and press down to mold granola to the shape of the pan (you may want to use some plastic wrap or wax paper to protect your hands from the sticky).

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the edges have browned (it’s ok if you let them go a little long an the tops get some color too). Cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack. Chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes before cutting. Using the exposed ends of the parchment paper, remove bars from pan. Use a long bread or serrated knife to cut even squares or rectangles. Store in an airtight container or package individually in snack sized sealing plastic bags.

*note: I used a 11X15 half sheet cake pan for my triple batch. They also cooked for about 50 minutes instead of 30-40.