Snack bars

The kids get two snack breaks at school, two! Which means I need to get creative.

I decided to make them some snack bars – I could just buy them the boxed bars at the store, but I hate pre-packaged preservatives, so I like to avoid them if I can. (That rule is for the kids only. Me – I’m eating as many Halloween Twix as I can while I am typing this… ~hypocrite~) Keep these in the freezer for when the snack attack hits.

ingredients:
2 cups rice krispies
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup cinnamon chips
1/2 cup craisins
1/2 cup sweet sunflower seeds
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 Tablespoons applesauce

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prep a 9×13 pan by greasing it with melted butter.

Obviously this recipe is totally changeable, it was just about what I had in my pantry. I happened to get these AMAZING sweet sunflower seeds when I was at the snack store in Hawaii and they are soooo good, I just threw them in but regular old sunflower seeds would work fine too, as well as any nuts.

In a large bowl stir together the rice krispies, rolled oats, mini chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, craisins and sweet sunflower seeds.

In a saucepan over medium high heat, cook the honey and the brown sugar. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat and add the peanut butter and the applesauce. Stir together well, and pour over the dry ingredient mixture. Stir until it’s completely coated.

Press the mixture into the prepped pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, just to get it a little crispy. That’s how I like it.

Let cool completely. Once cooled, cut into bars.

I like to wrap them in parchment paper and add a sticker to seal them up with a little note to the kids. Sometimes it’s hard to remember to go to all these after school activities, a little reminder is helpful.

I wish someone would tell me to have a good day sometimes. Maybe I should leave these in my purse as notes to MYSELF. (First sign of insanity: writing notes to yourself on food, I’m sure.)

These make great school snacks, change up the ingredients with whatever you have on hand. Keep them in an airtight container for 2-3 days or keep them in the freezer!