Chocolate Cranberry Granola Bars: National Granola Day

Today is National Granola Day. Granola isn't just for hippies anymore. Granola Bars are great for a healthy snack after school or on the trail. Yes, you can buy a lot of wonderful Granola Bars with Chocolate at the Market, but you can also make them very easily.

Last year on National Granola Day I posted recipes for Chocolate Cherry Granola Bars and Chocolate Granola. Since I'm all about easy, here's a simple recipe that you can adapt to your own needs or wants. There's no right or wrong here. You can add different nuts and cereals, different dried fruits, different chocolate chips or chopped chocolate with different amounts of cacao. You can add flavorings, too, such as Vanilla or Almond.

HEALTHY CHOCOLATE CRANBERRY GRANOLA BARS

Ingredients
1/4 cup local honey
1/4 cup dark molasses
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
1 & 3/4 cups oats
1 cup rice cereal (or another type of cereal you like)
4 tbsp DARK chocolate chips or 4 ounces chopped chocolate (65-85% cacao)
1/4 cup chopped peanuts (or almonds)
1/2 cup dried cranberries (or dried cherries)

Directions
1. Heat honey, molasses, and brown sugar  (do not boil). Take off stove.
2. Immediately add peanut butter and stir until smooth.
3. Stir in oats, cereal, nuts, and dried cranberries.
4. Fold in chocolate chips or chopped chocolate.
5. Spread mixture into a pan coated with cooking spray. 
6. Bake at 325 for 15 minutes.
7. Cool and cut into bars or squares.