No Bake Chocolate Covered Granola Bars

Jenna loves granola bars, so when I knew I was sending a care package to the girls at school, I made these. She loved them. They are so very easy to make. Make sure to press them down firmly into the pan. I packed them in individual bags when I mailed them.

No-Bake Chocolate Covered Granola Bars

http://ladywiththeredrocker.com

4 cups quick cooking oats  
2 cup crispy rice cereal or Cheerios
1 stick butter
½ cup honey
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips (or more per taste)(Beth used 1 cup)

In a large bowl, stir oats and rice cereal together. Set aside. In a small pot, melt butter, honey and brown sugar together over medium high heat until it comes to a bubble. Reduce the heat and cook 2 minutes. Pour in vanilla and stir. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well to moisten all ingredients.

Pour into 9×13 jelly roll pan, lined with foil and lightly greased. Firmly press the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and allow chips to melt over the hot mixture for about 2 minutes, and then spread chocolate over bars.

Cool on a counter top to room temperature for about 3-4 hours or until the chocolate chips are set before cutting into bars. (To speed up the hardening of the chocolate, place bars in frig for a few minutes – no more than 5 minutes, or the bars will be too hard to cut.) After the bars are cut, wrap in parchment or plastic wrap and store at room temperature.

Notes: If the bars seem like they are not holding together when it is time to cut them, place them in the frig for a few minutes until they firm up a little. Do not leave the bars in the frig because they will become too hard to cut. The key to the bars sticking together is to make sure they have been pressed down hard enough. Spray the backs of spoons with cooking spray to help press bars into pan.