No Bake Monster Cookie Granola Bars {Super Easy Microwave Recipe}

Although it has barley begun, summer’s in full swing and these No Bake Monster Cookie Granola Bars are the perfect treat to accommodate our busy days in the sunshine. We’ve been bouncing to and from summer activities, working on our Summer Learning Academy, and even managed to squeeze in a few days at the lake. These Easy Microwave Monster Cookie Granola Bars are super easy to whip up {we are talking minutes to make} and made with yummy oats, rice cereal, honey, peanut butter, and M&M’s. They may not be totally healthy, but they’ve got to be better than a lot of other things I could offer my kids, and I can pronounce everything that goes into them, which I totally love! The fact that they taste kind of like my favorite cookie is definitely a bonus. They are wonderfully chewy bars that are convenient for grabbing on the run (they’ll be great lunch box treats, too). We squeezed in two extra camps right off the start and one look at my house pretty much tells all. I guess this week it’s time to figure out how to shuttle my kids to all their fun activities while keeping things in order around the house at the same time. Sounds like I better put those blank chore charts to use. I don’t think my kids will be nearly as excited about that as they are about these No Make Monster Cookie Granola Bars. Oh well, you win some and you lose some, right?

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No Bake Monster Cookie Granola Bars {Microwave}

Author: Jasey's Crazy Daisy

Ingredients

• 2 cups quick oats*
• 1 cup Rice Krispies cereal*
• 1 1/4 cups extra chunky peanut butter**
• 1/2 cup honey OR light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup mini M&M's plus about 1/4 cup more for sprinkling* {it helps if they are frozen}

Instructions

1. Line an 8x11-inch baking dish (use a 8x8-inch pan for thicker bars) with aluminum foil leaving a 2-inch overhang to use as handles for pulling the bars out with. Spray foil with cooking spray. Set aside. Pour oats and rice cereal into a large mixing bowl. Set aside. In an microwave safe mixing bowl, combine peanut butter, honey, brown sugar, and salt. Heat mixture on high power for 1 minute, remove and stir. Return to microwave and microwave on high power for another minute. Remove from microwave and stir in vanilla. Pour peanut butter mixture over cereal mixture and stir until everything is evenly coated. After the mixture has slightly cooled stir in M&M's. Pour into prepared baking dish and press into an even layer. Cover with plastic wrap and pop into freezer for about 10-15 minutes, or chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes, or until set. Lift bars from pan and cut into bars. Store in an airtight container. Sometimes I wrap each bar individually before placing them in a Ziploc baggie or other container to make them easy to grab and go with. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

* Take care to to ensure that all ingredients used keep with your dietary needs. If bars must be gluten, dairy, or soy free, make sure your ingredients fall within your restrictions. You may need to trade M&M's for chocolate chips.
** I used extra chunky peanut butter because I felt like this was the best fit for a monster cookie type bar. If you prefer creamy peanut butter reduce the amount used to 3/4 cup and for chunky peanut butter use only 1 cup to account for the difference in peanut to peanut butter ratio.

Adapted from Cooking Classy