No-Bake M&M Granola Bars

 

It has felt like fall a little here in Michigan these past few days.  With lots of rainy drizzle and temps twenty-plus degrees cooler than normal, the air conditioners got unplugged and the kids' footie pajamas came out last night!  I am not complaining one bit ... I could live with fall weather year-round (minus maybe one day of snow for Christmas' sake). 

 

With our weekly grocery shopping trip still a day away, the kids were whining mentioning that they were low on snacks to nibble on. So, I decided to make these No Bake M&M Granola Bars. They didn't disappoint!

These were a breeze to put together. My children loved all the yummy add-in ingredients! Seriously, how can you go wrong with M&M's, chocolate, pretzels and marshmallows all combined into a chewy granola bar? And, you don't even have to heat up the oven! Bonus!

I will tell you that although these are perfectly wonderful to eat the same day, we found that they were more "set" the next day. They were just so soft the very first day we made them that they kind of fell apart as we ate them.  I think they kind of needed a day to "dry out" and not be so sticky and soft.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 cups quick oats
1 cup Rice Krispies cereal
1/2 cup pretzels, pounded into pieces OR 1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips (mini or regular)
1/2 cup mini M&M's
1/2 cup mini marshmallows, cut in half using kitchen scissors

Directions:

Mix the oats and Rice Krispies and set aside. In a large saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar and honey. Stir over medium heat until melted and the mixture begins to bubble. Reduce heat and cook for 2 minutes. Pour over the oats mixture and stir until coated. Let cool for a few minutes before stirring in the pretzels, chocolate chips, M&M's and marshmallows.  Press into a greased baking sheet pan making it about 3/4 inch thick. Make sure you really press it down so everything sticks together. Let cool on the counter for about 2 hours before cutting into bars.

 

Recipe Notes:

You can switch around the additions you put into this ... candy bars cut into chunks, various chopped nuts, white chocolate, butterscotch or peanut butter chips, other candy bits or dried fruit.  Just be sure to follow the measurements when substituting.

I use a combination of quick oats and old-fashioned oats, but you can use whatever you have or prefer.

This recipe will yield 10 - 12 bars.  Your mixture may only fill your sheet pan 3/4 of the way full depending on the size of your pan.

Adapted from Inside BruCrewLife