Homemade granola bars save me ££ each month

For the past few months, I've been systematically reducing store bought processed foods and trying to replace them with homemade healthier stuff.

I experimented with 9 different recipes, none of which worked for the combination of chewy texture and relatively modest calories I wanted + taste.

So I experimented with 3 more self-concocted recipes before landing on one that's perfect for our taste buds.

This is a full sized tray bake and it disappears in 36 hours flat. So i bake these almost every other day now if not daily!

Recipe:

600g coarse cut oats

20g honey

80g oil

130g soft brown sugar

2 large eggs

A splash of vanilla

A pinch of salt

20g chocolate chips

Preheat oven 170 degrees Celsius

Line a large sheet with parchment

Throw all ingredients apart from chocolate in a bowl

Wear a food safe glove and work all the ingredients together rubbing them between your fingers

Dump it all out on a lined sheet. Spread out with your fingers raking it across the sheet

Place another sheet of parchment on top, and press down all over using a flat instrument eg base of another pan or another baking sheet.

Once flattened, use a sharp knife to create shallow cutting lines, not all the way down

Sprinkle on chocolate chips

Press chips into the oats with the back of a spoon

Bake 10-14 minutes until golden

Cut all the way through the shallow lines immediately

Leave to cool, then box up.

Tips

If you have an identical baking sheet,use that to press down the granola. You can also cover the whole thing with a clean towel or paper/cardboard, place all of it on a clean floor surface, then step on it with clean feet to press down.

Use your fingers to tumble the chocolate chips out of the shallow cuts and on to the actual rectangles