My Daily Dollars

On the road to financial freedom, one day at a time



← New Home Sweet Home The 80/20 Rule →

Homemade Breakfast Bars

September 22nd, 2008 · 13 Comments · food, pantry

One thing that I’m trying to do with my new frugal pantry is make as much as possible from scratch.  I’m baking bread and crackers, making my own pizza crust, and whipping up salsa and sauces.  In the mornings, I love eating oatmeal (of course, from scratch), but I don’t take the time during the week.  When I’m working, I rely on pre-packaged granola or energy bars.  That can quickly add up to $5 to $8 dollars a week.  My mom told me about her homemade granola bars, so last week I decided to try some myself.

With the pantry, I want to rely on what I have on hand.  I could have easily gone out and bought shredded wheat and dried fruit for this recipe, but then the savings wouldn’t have been very significant.  Instead, I modified it to fit what I had on hand.  My bars are all oatmeal, basically my bowl of oatmeal to go.  They’re quick and easy; you could modify it to use whatever is in your pantry.  Hope you like them as much as we do!

  • 2 cups old-fashioned oats
  • 1 cup of nuts (I used pecans)
  • 1/2 cup of raisins or your favorite dried fruit
  • 3/4 cup of chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly butter an 8 X 8-inch baking pan.
Pulse the oats, nuts, fruit, seeds, and chocolate chips in a food processor.  Add the cinnamon and salt.  In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, honey, and vanilla.  Then combine with the dry mixture.
Spread into the baking pan, making sure that the mixture is smooth and even.  Bake about 18 minutes until the edges turn golden brown.  Let them cool completely in the pan before slicing.
The recipe made sixteen bars, and I ate two each morning for breakfast.  This week, I think I’ll slice them into 8 larger bars.

Tags:

13 responses so far ↓

  • 1 jolie // Sep 22, 2008 at 1:26 pm

    They sound delicious. You wouldn’t happen to have the nutritional information for them do you? I miss my granola bars at work. Our workplace is nutfree due to some high allergies.

  • 2 Monroe on a budget // Sep 22, 2008 at 5:00 pm

    I’m going to try that recipe.

  • 3 mydailydollars // Sep 22, 2008 at 6:34 pm

    @ jolie: the original recipe has this nutritional info: 150 calories, 7g fat (1g saturated, 0.7g omega-3), 85mg sodium, 23g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, 3g protein.

    The main substitution that I made was all oatmeal instead of half oatmeal/half cereal, so I think that it’s still in that ballpark.

  • 4 cindy // Sep 22, 2008 at 9:10 pm

    I did the granola bars today. Very tasty. Are they supposed to be very moist? I was a little worried about how they’d come out of the pan so I very lightly greased the bottom with some butter. Maybe that made the bottoms more “damp” than I was expecting.

  • 5 tiffanie // Sep 23, 2008 at 4:20 am

    going to go make them right now! literally! :) talk about some late night baking…it’s 12:23am here. but i have all the ingredients on hand and i’m in the mood to have something tasty for breakfast in the morning. thanks for the recipe!

  • 6 mydailydollars // Sep 23, 2008 at 11:34 am

    @ cindy, yes, they’re more moist than packaged bars. If you want them drier, try leaving them in the oven and turn the heat off for about five minutes. That’s a trick I learned from my mom!

    @tiffanie, that is some late night baking! How’d they turn out?

  • 7 Miss Thrifty // Sep 23, 2008 at 7:36 pm

    Wow - they sound delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe; I shall certainly be making a batch.

  • 8 tiffanie // Sep 23, 2008 at 7:37 pm

    they turned out delicious, except they’re kind of falling apart…lol. i did chocolate chips, almond slices, walnuts, and raisins. love ‘em and will try ‘em again, even if i CAN’T get ‘em out of the pan in one piece lol

  • 9 jolie // Sep 23, 2008 at 8:01 pm

    ooo thanks. I appreciate it. They work out to three WW points so I can have them. wheee

  • 10 Got Five Minutes? Thirteen Five Minute Tools to Help You Save Money — Almost Frugal // Oct 8, 2008 at 6:01 am

    [...] to eat a cereal bar doesn’t seem so bad, does it? My Daily Dollars has a tasty sounding recipe for homemade breakfast bars- I really need to try [...]

  • 11 Trish // Oct 9, 2008 at 7:47 pm

    Thanks for sharing this recipe. I have tried several different granola bar recipes and have yet to fine the perfect recipe. I like the fact that you chop up the ingredients. I am not a huge fan of nuts in my foods, but if they were chopped up small enough, I probably wouldn’t notice.

  • 12 Homemade Granola Bars « Saving Money Ideas // Jan 16, 2009 at 3:10 pm

    [...] few months ago I found a great new recipe - Homemade Breakfast Bars. They are granola bars, something I have tried many times to make, but never was very impressed [...]

  • 13 Twelve Five Minute Money Saving Tips — Almost Frugal- a frugal blog // Aug 26, 2009 at 3:10 am

    [...] minutes to eat a cereal bar doesn’t seem so bad, does it? My Daily Dollars has a tasty sounding recipe for homemade breakfast bars- I really need to try [...]

Leave a Comment