Microwave! Homemade Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Around here we try to keep it healthy. I mean reeeally try. We have eggs and fruit for breakfast, and ham and turkey sandwiches for lunch. But sometimes at the end of a long day all I want is a slice of cheesy awesome pizza and or a big glass of wine. So to keep us healthy and avoid the negative effects of too much pizza (weight gain and money loss) I'm always looking for good-for-you-and-homemade snacks to keep around the house.

So when I found this recipe I had to try it (with a few alterations)!! I mean homemade granola bars...in the microwave!? Can it be?! Is it truly that easy?! Yes, yes it is. Make sure you have everything you'll need:

 (microwave not pictured :)

To get started I melted the butter, honey and brown sugar in a microwave safe bowl.

Yum! Then I stirred it up and microwaved some more. 

When I took it out I noticed it was actually boiling (see above)! Kinda cool. Then I mixed in the vanilla, salt, oats and Rice Krispies making sure everything was well coated.

Then I added in some chocolate chips. I decided to use big chips & chopped them up using this:

Which gave me this...

I poured in some chocolate crumbs, buttered up my hands and got to pressin! I pressed them right up to the edge of the baking sheet (see below), poured the rest of the chocolate crumbs on top, and let them freeze for a few minutes. Warning: DO NOT over freeze! I repeat: DO NOT over freeze!

 Once they were done, I pulled them out and cut them up. Then I put some peanut butter in a plastic bag, cut off the tip, and used it to pipe on the peanut butter.

I cut them into long bars and proceeded to gobble them up! The honey mixed with the oats mixed with the Rice Krispies gave me a crunchy yet gooey bite every time. And since I added chocolate into the mix, there was amazing amounts of chocolate in every single bite! Perfect!

Ingredients:
3 T peanut butter
1/4 Cup unsalted butter
1/4 Cup honey
1/4 Cup light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
2 Cups quick oats
1 1/4 Cups Rice Krispies cereal
1/4 Cup milk chocolate chips, crushed, divided

Directions:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Place peanut butter in a small plastic bag, cutting one of the corners off to use for piping. Set aside.

Melt butter, honey and brown sugar on high for about a minute. Stir, then return for an additional 90 seconds. Add in the vanilla and salt, stir.Add in the oats making sure they are completely coated, then stir in cereal, also coating completely. Add in a few chocolate chip crumbs. Butter your fingers and press the mixture onto the parchment lined baking sheet. My bars were about 6 inches long and covered less than half the sheet. Add on the remaining chocolate chip crumbs last. Set in the freezer for about 8-10 minutes. DO NOT over freeze! If you do, they will come out hard and brittle. Remove the bars from the freezer, cut into long strips, pipe on the peanut butter and place into an airtight container...or eat a ton right away like I did :) Hope you enjoy!


What snacks do you serve your family to keep the fat out and the healthy in? Love to hear them! Come back tomorrow to check out my not-so-healthy favorite lunchtime sandwich. I'll give you a hint...it's cheesy! Shock, right? :)

Thanks for stopping by!

**I linked up to Artsy fartsy mama and 52 mantels and lamberts lately and mandatory mooch and kiddie foodies and whats cooking love and Fireflies and Jellybeans and bloom designs