Granola Bar Gifts

 In my last post about making bread, I said that small steps to a "homemade kitchen" simply thrills me. Well, I've found yet another homemade recipe to replace a store-bought item that we often buy...granola bars. Katlynn especially enjoys granola bars for a snack, so since they can be so expensive (even with coupons), I decided I'd try making them myself. There's probably a million recipes out there for granola bars, but I stumbled upon this one while searching online and it's served my purpose quite well. The ingredients list is actually rather small which makes this recipe extremely easy and fast to make. This also makes a quick gift to wrap up for any special occasion (it just happened to be Valentine's Day when I made these).
 The recipe calls for any kind of Bisquick mix, meaning if you have a homemade recipe on hand, your in luck! Of course if you have actual Bisquick, that would work too. But the frugal way to go would be to make your own, which is also very easy and doesn't take long at all (I'll include the recipe I've been using for a while now).
 Also, I like this recipe because it gives room for flexibility when it comes to what kind of granola bar you want to make. In fact, there are even a few suggestions listed at the bottom of the recipe.



Homemade Chewy Granola Bars   GroceryBudget101.com

1 1/2 c. Bisquick*

1 1/2 c. quick-cooking oats

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. butter or margarine, softened

1 egg

1/3 c. chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine all ingredients and mix well.

3. Spread batter in un-greased, 13x9 pan and press firmly

4. Bake 15-17 minutes (cut into bars while still warm)

Variations

Add any of the following instead of or in addition to chocolate chips.

1/3 c. chopped dried apples and 1 tsp. cinnamon

1/3 c. powered milk (for a breakfast bar)

1/3 c. raisins, craisins, or dried cherries

1/3 c. chopped walnuts or almonds

*Homemade Baking Mix (from The Amish Cook's Family Favorite Recipes)

9 c. flour

1/3 c. baking powder

1 Tbsp. salt

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1/4 c. sugar

1 c. dry milk

2 c. shortening

1. Sift all ingredients together except shortening

2. Cut in the shortening

3. Use as Bisquick mix!

Gift Wrapping!

Granola Bars can be a really neat and unique gift idea for Valentine's Day or any other holiday or special occasion. To wrap them individually, I used a rectangular piece of foil. It was kind of like wrapping a miniature gift! Then I used some ribbon to tie bows around each one. You can then place however many individually wrapped granola bars into a container (I used a tin box), dress it up (I used ribbons), and label with customizable, printable labels (like the ones I found here)!