Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Wow, these are good!  If you ever had no-bake cookies, these taste a lot like those and you already know the potential of just how good these can be.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars

2/3 c. honey
a generous 1/2 c creamy peanut butter
1/4 c. light brown sugar, packed
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder (I use a little less.  1/4 c. makes them really chocolatey)
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 t. salt
2 c. quick oats
1 1/2 c. rice cereal (like Rice Krispies -- snap, crackle, POP!)
1/2 c. mini semi sweet chocolate chips, divided (I no longer use these--they just don't need them!)

Line an 8x8 pan with aluminum foil overhanging.  Spray with cooking spray.

In a microwave safe bowl, combine the honey, peanut butter and brown sugar.  Heat for 1 minute and stir.  Heat another minute and stir.

Add vanilla, cocoa, and salt.  Whisk to combine.

Stir in the oats.   Add the rice cereal and carefully stir.

Add 1/2 of the chocolate chips and stir.

Turn the mixture into the prepared pan and press it down firmly with a spatula or use the tools God gave you--your hands.

Sprinkle the remaining chips and press them down into the bars.  Cover with foil and but in the freezer for 1 hour or the fridge for 3 hours to set.

Once set, remove them from the pan by lifting out the foil.  Remove the foil and cut them in granola bar size.   I cut mine in 16--a very nice size!

Wrap them individually in plastic wrap and store up to a month in the cupboard, 2 months in the fridge, 6 months in the freezer.  But, seriously….they'll never last more than a week, so it doesn't really matter!

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Comments:
c = cup
t = teaspoon

I used Smuckers All Natural Peanut Butter, Trader Joe's Honey, and Quaker Oats.

I didn't have mini chips on hand so I just used the regular size.