Cranberry Vanilla Granola Bars

So I decided I wanted to be like the cool-kids and make my own granola bars. This world is full of hipsters, and when you unwrap your store bought granola bar from it’s boldly printed foil wrapper, you get glares. Maybe not so much, but regardless, I did want to make my own granola bars and be cool like that. It’s pretty easy, and they are no-bake, who knew? I made these bars with a combination of corn syrup, brown sugar and white chocolate as the binding ingredients and they turned out really sweet. Really good, but very sweet. I think for next time I will leave out the white chocolate, because these could almost be dessert bars.

Here’s the recipe for you:

2 cups of granola mix (this is a pre-made combination of rolled oats, rice crispies, almonds, etc. I used a box of Vanilla Almond Granola)

1/2 cup of dried cranberries

1/4 cup of white chocolate morsels

1/4 cup of light corn syrup

1/4 cup of light brown sugar

Begin by mixing the dry ingredients — granola, cranberries, and white chocolate morsels in a large mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring light corn syrup and light brown sugar to a bubble. When the brown sugar melts and the liquid begins to bubble, remove from heat and pour into the granola mixture. Stir to bind all ingredients together.

Line a square or rectangular dish with parchment paper and them scoop granola mixture into the dish. Firmly press the granola mixture until it is shaped with straight edges, packed together and flat. It will be like a big, flat slab of granola. You can use the parchment paper to help shape the granola.

Place granola mixture in the fridge for about 30 minutes to cool. When cooled, cut the granola into bars. This recipe makes about 9 granola bars.

You can wrap the granola bars individually in plastic wrap to toss into your gym bag, purse or lunch box for a mid-day snack. You know, you’ve had a granola bar before. Or, if you make them as sweet as I did, have them for dessert.