Microwave Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 3 minutes

Yield: 9 bars

Microwave Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Ingredients
1/4 cup coconut oil or unsalted butter (I’ve tried and love both)
1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups quick oats
1 1/4 cups Rice Krispies cereal
3 Tbsp mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
Add coconut oil or unsalted butter, brown sugar and honey to a 2 quart microwave safe bowl and heat mixture in microwave on HIGH power for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir (stir until butter is melted if using butter), then return to microwave and heat on HIGH power 1 minute longer if using coconut oil and 1 1/2 minutes longer if using butter. Carefully remove from microwave and blend in vanilla, then add in quick oats and stir until evenly coated. Fold in Rice Krispies and toss well to evenly coat, then firmly press mixture into one side of a buttered baking sheet with buttered hands (I used a regular sized cookie sheet and just pressed it them into 5-inch long bars using about 1/3 of the baking sheets width) then sprinkle top with chocolate chips and press into bars. Transfer to freezer and chill 10 minutes, then remove and cut into 9 bars. Store in an airtight container.
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Lauren’s Latest and Rachel Ray

Notes

If you find that your bars seem flimsy and fall apart, you may need to microwave the mixture longer the next time around as microwave wattages can vary and also you may need to press them down more firmly into the baking dish