Homemade No-Bake Granola Bars that was my most recent discovery/pin on Pinterest. Lauren’s Latest adapted it from a Rachael Ray Recipe.
The recipe looked so yummy and it was a no-bake recipe to boot. So I thought I would give it a try but I can’t seem to follow recipes exactly as directed so I made a few additions/substitutions (cinnamon, cranberries & coconut and I used agave instead of honey.)
Talk about delicious!
No-Bake Homemade Cranberry, Chocolate Chip and Coconut Granola Bars ~ Bacon and Kids 
Seriously, this is super easy to make, fairly healthy and yummy
Ingredients:
1/4 cup Agave (or honey)
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup crispy rice cereal
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
handful dried cranberries (to taste)
handful sweetened coconut flakes (to taste)
Mini chocolate chips – (enough to sprinkle on top)
Directions:
In a large bowl, stir oats and rice cereal, cinnamon, coconut & cranberries together.
The dry ingredients ready to be mixed together…
In a small pan, melt butter, brown sugar and agave together over medium high heat until it starts to bubble. Reduce the heat and cook 2 minutes. Add vanilla and stir.
Agave, Butter and Brown Sugar…yum
Pour over dry ingredients and mix well to moisten all ingredients. Pour into lightly greased small dish and press out to be about 3/4 inch in thickness. (I used 9×11 and just pressed them down to one side because I didn’t have a smaller baking dish.) Press down so they stick together. If desired, add chocolate chips to the top and press down lightly. Cool to room temperature for about two hours before cutting into bars. Wrap in parchment or plastic wrap and store at room temperature.
Granola cooling on the counter
Lauren added this note to her recipe:
” If your granola bars don’t seem to be staying together when you cut them, you may have made them too thin or you didn’t pack them in tight enough. Stick them in the fridge for 20 minutes and that should help keep them together. {Be sure not to keep them in there too long or else they’ll become super hard!} The next time you make them, try reducing the butter to 3 tablespoons and really packing them down.”
All ready to be enjoyed ~ Bacon & Kids
I thought I packed mine pretty tight but they did want to fall apart just a bit. We’ll see what happens next time I make them. I will be making again as they were a HUGE hit with my hubby and kids. I think I will try adding some peanut butter with the next batch. Hmm, the flavor combo’s will be a fun experiment!
Happy Granola Bar Making to you!! 
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