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Thanda Tales

Chocolate granola bars

Ingredients

  1. 2 cups quick-cooking oats
  2. 1 1/4 cups crisp rice cereal
  3. 3/4 cup almonds, toasted and chopped
  4. 1/2 cup water
  5. 1 cup sugar
  6. 1/3 cup milk
  7. 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
  8. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  9. 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Grease an 8×8 inch square dish with cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the oats, cereal, and almonds. Set aside.
  3. Pour the water into a medium saucepan. Carefully pour the sugar into the centre of the saucepan, trying not to let any touch the sides of the pan. Gently swirl (NOT stir) the pan around until all of the sugar is moistened. Cook sugar over medium-high heat for 7-8 minutes until it reaches a light amber colour. Mine started turning a light yellow at 6 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and continue cooking until caramel reaches a medium-dark amber colour, gently swirling (again NOT stirring) pan to ensure even caramelization. Remove from heat.
  4. Whisk the milk into the caramel. Just a little warning, the caramel will sizzle and bubble up as you stir the milk in, so be careful! Once the bubbling has slowed down, whisk in the salt and vanilla.
  5. Pour caramel over oat mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until evenly coated. Immediately pour the mixture into greased dish. Spray some extra cooking spray onto your hands and firmly press mixture into an even layer.
  6. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes.
  7. Meanwhile, in a shallow bowl, melt chocolate chips in the microwave until smooth.
  8. Remove the granola bars by loosening the edges with a knife and then flipping it out onto a cutting board. Cut into 12 bars.
  9. Dip each bar into the melted chocolate*, then finish with a sprinkling of kosher salt. Refrigerate bars until chocolate has set. Wrap each bar individually in plastic wrap, if desired, and store in an airtight container at room temperature.