Granola Bars: Second Attempt (better!)

Ok, So....I wasn't GOING to make granola bars this weekend, it just kind of happened. So excuse my crappy cell phone pics, haha.

Bc it was spur of the moment, I didn't have any raisins, which I think would have made them better, but that's ok!

These were chewier than the first batch, which made them yummier in my opinion. If I were to do anything different next time, it would be to mix everything together and add the rice krispies at the end to try and keep them "krispie". ;-)

So here we go!

Ingredients:
2 & 2/3 cups old fashioned oats
3/4 cup no sugar added applesauce
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 & 1/4 cup crispy rice cereal (I used store brand)
2 teaspoons cinnamon (optional)

2 cups mix-in's of your choice: (below is what I used)
3/4 cup flake coconut
3/4 cup nuts of your choice (I used peanuts and walnuts)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)
10 extra chocolate chips (saved to use for topping)

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Put oatmeal and coconut on a sheet pan and toast in the oven for 12 mins, tossing twice. (If you choose not to include coconut, still toast the oatmeal. It gives the flavor depth.)

3) Put applesauce and peanut butter in a large bowl and microwave for 30-40 secs, until the peanut butter starts to melt.

4) Mix the applesauce, peanut butter, and cinnamon together.

5) Dump in your mix-in's and mix well. But do NOT mix in your rice krispies yet. Learn from my mistake, lol.

6) Next mix in your oatmeal/coconut mixture. If it's still warm, it will melt some of the choc chips as you mix. This gives the bars a nice chocolatey flavor, yum!

7) It's at THIS point that I would mix in the rice krispies. :-)

8) Line a cookie sheet with tin foil, spray with cooking spray, and press the mixture into the pan.

9) Crush the 10 extra chocolate chips and sprinkle over the top of the pan. I didn't get a picture of this, but it's self explanatory! :)

10) Bake for 20 mins, then remove from the oven and "spread" the chocolate chip topping with a spatula. This just gives you an extra chocolate flavor without TOO many extra calories. 

11) Let the pan cool for 10 mins before cutting into 20 bars. Wrap individually in tin foil to freeze, or place in plastic storage container.

Nutrional info for one bar: (red is nutrional info from first attempt)
Calories - 185  (257)
Protein - 4        (4)
Carbs - 16         (43)

I'd say that's a pretty big improvement!