Well, I’m happy to report that we ALL survived the first week of school. There were no major “firsts” for either of our girls this year, which definitely helped to alleviate some of the usual back-to-school anxieties. The week was rather uneventful, which is just fine with me. ;)
If you ask our girls one of the highlights of the week, though, they might just tell you it’s when they came home from school to find just-baked homemade granola bars waiting for them on the kitchen counter. Even Blake asked, “What smells so good?”, when he walked in the door that day.
I was just tickled with how these Chocolate Chip Granola Bars turned out. And our girls are excited to pack them in their school lunches this week!
Ever since I fell in love with making my own granola, I’ve been meaning to bake some homemade granola bars. But it took Catherine McCord’s new book, Weelicious Lunches, to convince me to finally give it a go.
It was so fun to finally meet Catherine, author of the blog Weelicious, this past summer. I first saw her in Austin at Blogher Food, where she was presenting with Joy the Baker. I was immediately drawn to Catherine’s easy going personality, quick wit, and joyful smile while she was behind the microphone. Then the following month, I met her in person at the Blogher conference in Chicago. She’s just so nice. And funny. I love when people can make me laugh!
Catherine always has the sweetest looking kids’ lunches to share on her blog and Instagram. I appreciate how the eats are both healthful and FUN & CREATIVE. I even found our daughters paging through Weelicious Lunches, and then making suggestions for their lunch boxes the next day. How cool is that?! As a parent, I couldn’t be happier that this book catches our girls’ attention.
I love the colorful fresh food collages in the book. So pretty! And they’re a great reminder for us to step outside the box of our usual fruit and veggie offerings.
This week our girls will be happy to come home from school to this easy Avocado Honey Dip, the next recipe I’m going to try from Catherine’s book. Hatti and Tessa are quickly becoming avocado lovers, and I know this dip will disappear in no time at all. Maybe if I make a double batch, there will even be some left to pack in their lunch boxes the following day?!
What really caught my eye about this recipe for Chocolate Chip Granola Bars was that it didn’t contain peanut butter or nuts. While our family loves these ingredients, and we eat them regularly, guidelines for lunches, snacks, and birthday celebrations at school and church are becoming more and more restricted as food allergies become more and more common.
So Catherine’s recipe, sans peanut butter and nuts, I just had to try. And they are downright delicious. Crunchy, with a little bit of chewiness, they are perfectly sweetened with honey and a bit of brown sugar. And every bar has a few chocolate chips, too. Because I believe that a little chocolate makes every day a whole lot better! ;)
Chocolate Chip Granola Bars {Giveaway!}
Ingredients
- 4 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
- ¼ c. whole wheat flour
- ½ c. shredded unsweetened coconut I only had sweetened on hand, so that’s what I used.
- ⅓ c. packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp. cinnamon not in the original recipe, but my family loves it!
- ½ tsp. kosher salt
- 1 c. chocolate chips or raisins or other dried fruit
- ½ c. canola oil
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- ½ c. honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, coconut, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and chocolate chips. Stir to combine.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the canola oil, vanilla, and honey. Pour wet ingredients over the oats mixture and stir well to combine. Spread on the prepared cookie sheet and shape it into a 9” x 13” rectangle, about 1” thick. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until golden and dry to the touch.
- Cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then cut into desired size bars with a serrated knife. Wrap individually in parchment paper or wax paper.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Disclosure: I received a copy of Weelicious Lunches for review purposes. All opinions are my own.
I can’t wait to try your bar recipe. My favorite snack is a handful of frozen blueberries and pecans.
My favorite healthy snack is a handful of almonds!
Nuts and fresh fruit are my favorite healthy snacks.
Carrots or crackers with Hummus…
Lowfat plain Greek yogurt, berries and a little granola….
These look so yummy! Although we don’t have children, I love following @weelicious on Instagram as it helps me pack something different for my husband!
I know! Catherine definitely practices what she preaches, love her Instagramming, too! :)
My favorite healthy snack is definitely yogurt and granola!
Peaches
My favorite snack is dried fruits.
I love making ranch dip with carrot sticks, except I end up eating too much and ends up not healthy! HAHA
Thank you so much for the chance <3
One of my favourite snacks is crackers & cheese! I love them! Or for a sweet treat, I’ll mix walnuts & chocolate chips together. Yumm!!
Definitely fresh fruit and cheese!
My daughter loves an apple a day!
I like fruit or veggies as a snack.
I love apples for a snack with hummus or peanut butter.
I’m a sucker for apples and PB! That has to be my favorite healthy snack…
I can’t wait to make these bars. They look yummy
Great looking bars. I try to eat fruit or nuts if I am eating healthy. :-) I do enjoy your blog and recipes.
These granola bars look awesome! And my favorite healthy snack is probably Wheat Thins. I do love those nutty/salty crackers :) I also use to love raisins, but I haven’t had raisins in a while.
I like fruits and vegetables.