"nola" bars.....

I've been searching for a couple of years for a granola bar recipe that my family would like. A couple of us have been happy with Sarilyn's recipe below. I was sharing with Deja that I'd like to make rice krispy treats without marshmallows, and she said her granola bars were close, and I'm going to try it some day with just rice krispies. The first time I made these I baked them. I just had her list of ingredients and missed some key steps. I tried them again with full directions yesterday. There are none left - folks even liked them at the Potluck. I think I'd like them better with Rice Krispies, but you can't beat the ingredient list of the Puffed Rice (whole brown rice). We call them "nola bars" because that is what Stacia calls them.

Deja's NO BAKE CHEWY Granola Bars (like Krispy treats)
1/2 C Honey
1/2 C Rapidura (brown sugar)
1 tsp vanilla (I used 1 T)
3/4 C Peanut Butter
2 C Oats
2 1/2 C Puffed Rice (Rice Krispies)
1 T Flax Seeds
1/2 C Dried Fruit
1/2 C Chocolate Chips
1/4 C Cocunut

Combine dry ingredients. Heat honey & sugar to boil. Stir constantly. Turn off heat and add peanut butter and vanilla. Blend until smooth. Pour over oats - MIX WELL. Press into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Cool and cut into squares. (I skipped the fruit and coconut and added 1 C chocolate. In the future I will try some sunflower and pumpkin seeds - but I wanted to get the kids used to these first.)

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A local friend, shared this one. It's now our second favorite.
Sarilyn's Granola Bars1/3 C brown sugar (rapadura)
2/3 C peanut butter
3/4 C honey
2 T hot water (opt)
2 tsp vanilla
~Mix all these together.
2 1/2 C oats
1 C whole wheat flour
1/4 C wheat germ
1/2 C sunfloewer seeds
1 T sesame seeds
1 C chocolate chips
1/2 C nuts, dried fruit, seeds whatever you like (I put in flax seeds and pumpkin seeds)
~Mix all thse together in a larege bowl, then combine bowls and stir well.

Press into greased 9 x 13 pan bake at 350* for 15 - 20 min. Cut into bars while semi-warm and let cool completely before removing from pan. Approx 24 bars