We recently had to switch to a dairy-free lifestyle in an effort to see if our younger kids have a sensitivity that is causing them some serious sinus problems. I was having a hard time finding granola bars for our kids that were dairy free, mostly nut free and not expensive. We love to cook as much as we can from scratch so I tried to look up recipes. I could not find any that would work for our family’s particular needs so I decided to try and make them on my own. Children were consulted and they love peanuts and rice krispies so I used those as our base.
We buy 90% of our groceries from Costco as you can see. I bought the “Crisp Rice” at Winco and if you need to be gluten free this is where you could substitute gluten-free Rice Krispies and make the granola bars gluten-free. We are not super gluten sensitive so I did not worry about it.
I had my three year old dump all of the ingredients into a bowl and stir. It was a little sticky so I helped her a bit.
Next I pressed the granola bars into the pan using a regular spoon and put them into the oven for 20 min at 350 degrees. Your oven temperature may be different or you may want them chewier so check them after 15 minutes.
After baking I melted some chocolate chips and spread them on the top. Be careful if you use something with a handle since it could get very hot in the microwave.
I let the whole thing set a bit and my kids ate them pretty much over night so I would say they are a hit! Next time I might try adding some raisins and cinnamon or even dried apples and see how they turn out.
Happy cooking!
Easy Dairy-free Peanut Butter Granola Bars
Dairy/Gluten-free granola bars for the kids
Ingredients
- 2 cups Rice Cereal
- 3/4 cup Peanuts
- 1/4 cup Honey
- 1/2 cup Peanut Butter
- 1 cup chocolate chips (dairy-free)
Directions
- Step 1 Spray an 8×8 baking dish with cooking spray.
- Step 2 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Step 3 Put Rice Krispies, peanuts, honey and peanut butter into a bowl and stir.
- Step 4 Press your mixture into the baking dish and even out.
- Step 5 Bake granola bars for 15-20 min until they are firm.
- Step 6 Allow to cool for a couple of hours.
- Step 7 Microwave 1 cup chocolate chips in a microwave safe dish for 60 seconds. Stir and microwave them for an additional 30 seconds if they are not melty.
- Step 8 Spread your chocolate chips over the granola bars and enjoy!
