There is one thing that I can always rely on being in my bag: snacks! I may forget my phone or wallet, but never snacks.
I fancy myself an aficionado of snacking, but I’m probably just thinking too highly of my taste buds.
Over the years, I have powered through so many boxes of granola bars that I can separate the wheat from the chaff. I’ve been loving salted chocolate granola bars lately, so I decided to take a stab at making my own this week.
Initially, I planned to add whole chocolate chips into the granola bars. Without thinking, I mixed freshly toasted oats and chocolate chips together. I quickly realized my mistake when I saw the tiny chocolate pyramids melted into a creamy mush. As it turns out, I think the melted chips were better for distributing chocolate flavor in the granola bars. Don’t you love it when kitchen mistakes lead to dishes that are better than you envisioned?
I decided to use brown rice syrup in this recipe after Marissa at Pinch & Swirl introduced it to me earlier this month. Brown rice syrup is natural, vegan, and gluten-free and works well as a sugar substitute for baking. As with all other sweeteners, however, I would use it sparingly in my cooking.
These granola bars were surprisingly light, and their taste reminded me of chocolate-covered cracker jacks–just healthier!
Sweet and Salty Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1 1/4 cups salted pretzel sticks
- 3/4 cup sliced almonds
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup brown rice syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Line a 8 x 8 inch baking dish with parchment paper. Set that aside.
- Spread out the rolled oats onto the lined baking sheet and toast them in the oven for about 15 minutes. You can skip this step. I enjoy the flavor of toasted oats in granola bars, so that’s why I gave the oats more oven time.
- In a large bowl, snap the pretzel sticks into small pieces with your hands. Don’t worry if the pretzel bits are different sizes–we’re not striving for perfection here.
- Toss in the sliced almonds and chocolate chips and stir. Once the rolled oats are toasted, add them to the bowl. The chocolate chips will start melting, which is exactly what you want. If you prefer eating whole chocolate chips, wait until the rolled oats have fully cooled off before mixing with chocolate
- Add the brown rice syrup and mix until well incorporated.
- Pour the mixture into the 8 x 8 inch dish. Because this mixture is quite sticky, use another small piece of parchment paper to help you press down and spread the mixture evenly.
- Bake the granola bars for about 20 minutes.
- Let them cool completely (about 25-30 minutes) before cutting into them. I found it easier to lift the whole thing out of the baking dish, parchment paper and all, and slicing the bars on top of a chopping board
- Store in an airtight container.
Notes
Q: What are your favorite granola bars?
rika@vm says
Yum that looks so delicious, I like salty and sweet snacks, esp pretzels! 😉
Lisa says
Thanks, Rika! Dark chocolate covered pretzels are the best!
Katie (The Muffin Myth) says
Girl, these granola bars are calling my name. I LOVE sweet and salty, and pretzels are one of my favourite things. I’m definitely going to try these out asap. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Lisa says
Thanks, Katie! I’m a sucker for chocolate covered pretzels, so I knew I had to create a recipe with them. By the way, if you prefer thinner crunchy granola bars, use a larger baking dish for baking these. Hope you enjoy this!
Teresa says
Those bars do look tempting. I’ve never heard of brown rice syrup before. Will have to look for it next time I go to the farmers market. Visiting from SITS.
Lisa says
Thanks for stopping by, Teresa! Let me know how these bars turn out if you try this recipe. I’ve only seen honey sold at farmers markets, so I’m not sure if you will find brown rice syrup there. I got my brown rice syrup from Whole Foods, and I think other similar supermarkets should carry them.
Jennifer Johnson says
I love trying new granola bar recipes!
Lisa says
Let me know how they turn out if you try this recipe, Jennifer!
GiselleR @ Diary of an ExSloth says
These look really good! I bought pretzels last weekend to make some homemade trail mix but I’m thinking these granola bars will get made instead haha
Thanks for sharing 😀
Lisa says
You’re welcome Giselle! I definitely think that you can pull of BOTH the trail mix and these granola bars. I hope this recipe works out for you!
Julia says
Lisa! I don’t why it took me so long to get on your blog but it looks so good! I just added you to my favs and you will be part of my daily blog rounds now. 🙂
Julia
Lisa says
Thanks Julia!!!! I definitely want to redesign the blog more, but I’ll do it a little bit at a time. I didn’t know you had a blog, too!
Raquel says
They look amazing! I made some cereal bars a few months ago and they wouldn’t stick together haha. It was a mess but the taste was pretty good 🙂 I’ll try to make these some day.
Lisa says
Thanks, Raquel! I bet those cereal bars you made still tasted delicious! Let me know what you think of these granola bars when you get a chance to make them!
Annie @Maebells says
I love this idea! I am a sucker for the sweet and salty combo, I am going to try a gluten free version of these soon!
Lisa says
Thanks, Annie! Let me know how your gluten-free version turns out!
Marissa | Pinch and Swirl says
Love this recipe Lisa! Definitely going to try it…
Lisa says
Thanks, Marissa! I hope you like this!
Dana Francis says
Is there a substitute for the brown rice syrup? I live in a rural area and even thought I have searched the local stores, I have yet to find any 🙁
Lisa Lin says
Hi Dana, honey works, too! The granola bars will be a bit sticky but it’ll still work! Hope this helps!
Dana says
Awesome thanks!