Yes, the title sounds way too good to be true but these bars are just as delicious as they sound! For YEARS I searched for a chewy granola bar recipe that I would love!  And I know, my cooking blog is called “GRANOLA GIRL BAKES” so I really should have had this recipe figured out years ago. 😉 I am just a little really fond of Chewy Granola Bars but the only problem is almost all recipes call for corn-syrup and, whenever possible, I try to avoid  using/eating it. After many failed recipes and quite a bit of searching, I finally came up with the perfect combination of salty-sweet-chewiness that my entire family loves! AND to make the deal sweeter, these Chewy Granola Bars are NATURALLY GLUTEN FREE!! 🙂 Okay, so I know there are a few crazy people out there that don’t like peanut butter ;). If you are one of these people, the peanut butter is completely optional! Put your own twist to the bars by adding cranberries, raisins, nuts, white chocolate chips, or whatever may come to mind and let me know how you like them! 🙂

Yields 1 9×13 (about 16 bars!)

• 4 cups quick cooking oats (or pulse whole oats in a food processor a bit)
• 2 C rice crispy cereal
• 1/2 C shredded coconut
• 1/2 C butter
• 1/2 C honey
• 1 C brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 C creamy peanut butter
• 3/4 C chocolate chips(Use frozen chocolate chips to prevent excessive melting! 😉

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the oats, cereal and coconut. Add peanut butter(optional) to the top and set aside!  Set a small saucepan over medium high heat and melt the butter.  Add the honey, brown sugar and salt.  Stir together then leave it alone as it comes to a boil.  Once the boil has reached all the way around the edges of the pan, begin timing(this is where your iphone will come in handy ;)!  Allow this mixture to boil for 2 minutes and 20 seconds.  During this time, you may need to turn the heat down a bit so it doesn’t overflow, but be sure it keeps boiling.
2. Add the vanilla and then pour the mixture over the oats, using a rubber spatula to get all the sugar mixture out of the pan.  Mix the ingredients together until the oats are completely coated.  Add in chocolate chips(and any other mix-ins you would like) then press very firmly into parchment lined 9×13″ pan! Place them in the freezer for 20 minutes then cut to size.
3. ENJOY!!

“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
John 6:35