The reality of having a newborn means that most mornings I’m waking up to some cute little baby cries and need to throw on my glasses and slippers get to feeding her before a meltdown ensues. If I’m super lucky, my husband has already made the pot of coffee and I’ll grab a mug before the baby squeaks turn to screams. I’m usually starving when I wake up (feeding this kid has made me more hungry now than I ever was while pregnant!) so I have gotten into the habit the past few weeks of grabbing a granola bar to eat quickly during that first feeding of the day. It’s easy to grab and I can eat it one handed, so it’s the perfect snack to curb my early morning stomach grumbling.
I was eating so many of them though that I realized how much junk was in the store-bought versions I was eating and thought I should tackle making some on my own. I’m kicking myself now that I didn’t think of this earlier, because they were so darn quick and easy to make (maybe 5 minutes of prep, and 1 hour to set up in the fridge). They also taste much better than the store-bought versions and with all of the peanut butter and nuts in them, they’re much more filling too. With the base recipe down, you could mix in peanut butter chips, other types of nuts, or some dried fruit to change the flavors. They’re going to be my new go-to morning snack — get the simple recipe below! 
- 2 Cups of Rice Krispies cereal
- 2 Cups of oats
- 1 Cup of chocolate chips
- ½ Cup of chopped peanuts
- ¼ Teaspoon of salt
- ¼ Cup of honey
- ½ Cup of light brown sugar
- 1 Cup of peanut butter
- In large bowl, toss together cereal, oats, chocolate chips, peanuts and salt until combined.
- In a microwave safe bowl, combine honey, brown sugar and peanut butter and heat for 45-60 seconds. Stir the warm mixture to combine the ingredients and set aside to let it cool slightly.
- Pour the slightly cooled peanut butter mixture over the dry ingredients and combine until fully incorporated.
- Line an 8x12 baking dish with parchment paper and press the granola bar mixture into the dish firmly, until evenly dispersed and packed to the edges.
- Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour to firm up the bars.
- Flip the chilled mixture out on a cutting board and slice into bar-shaped pieces; store in an air-tight container.
