Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

This is another recipe from the Weelicious Lunches cookbook. I wasn’t sure how they’d turn out – I was afraid they might be too tough or sticky, but as it happens, they were perfect. Plus, even though the recipe yields A LOT, these bars stayed remarkably fresh at room temperature, for a few weeks even! The instructions say to wrap them individually, but I had them in an airtight container. Both my kids really liked these (though of course I broke them up into little pieces for the Fox), and I think they wouldn’t like them as much if I replaced the chocolate chips with dried fruits or nuts, so I won’t, but that’s an option. The only downside is that over the time we were eating them, I found a lot of oat flakes on the floor of the house, the way one might find Cheerios in a house with little kids. A small price to pay! The recipe was also published on the Weelicious website.

4 cups old fashioned oats
¼ cup whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)
½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup chocolate chips
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup honey

Preheat oven to 325 °F.

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.

Pour the wet ingredients over the oat mixture and stir to combine.

Place granola mixture on a parchment lined baking sheet and shape into a rectangle, about 13 x 9 x 1 inch thick. (I did this in a 9” x 13” baking pan lined with parchment paper.)

Bake for 40 minutes.

Allow to cool completely then cut into bars 3 x 1 inch bars. Bars will keep well wrapped individually.