Homemade Cranberry, Quinoa, and White Chocolate Granola Bars

Granola bars are a great grab and go snack. Both kids and adults tend to enjoy them. While I am not a mom who makes everything from scratch, I love being in the kitchen with my kids and see the benefits of making things at home. These homemade cranberry, quinoa, and white chocolate granola bars are amazing, and I think you’ll find them easy to prepare. The taste is out of this world I really had to have a lot of self control to not eat more than one…OK two…in a sitting.

We all want to have quick, go-to products that make life easy. Nature Valley has its own line of granola bars, which is a great option when you want the ease of grabbing something off the shelf. However, I have also been recently turned on to their granola line. You may have already seen my delicious dark chocolate frozen bananas rolled in granola. Other ways you could incorporate Nature Valley granola is in yogurt parfaits, on a salad, alone as a quick snack, in a cookie, as a crust of a dessert or as a crumble. I was inspired by the cranberry almond protein granola in creating my own homemade cranberry, quinoa, and white chocolate granola bars. They were a hit with even my pickiest eater. I can’t believe she even tried them. That was a breakthrough for us. My more adventurous eater has never been a big fan of granola bars, but guess what?! She loved them too. They were really easy to make, so they will be made in the future. Actually, I really want to have my hand at making granola bar recipe using a variety of Nature Valley granola flavors. This is definitely a recipe that can be made with little ones. I believe being in the kitchen with kids is so important.

Ingredients Needed to Make Homemade Cranberry, Quinoa, and White Chocolate Granola Bars

Yield: 12 bars

6 Tbsp salted butter

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cups + 2 Tbsp honey

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

2 cups Nature Valley Protein Crunchy Granola Cranberry Almonds

2 cups rice cereal

3/4 cup quinoa

1/2 cup Craisins (not pictured)

11 oz bag white chocolate chips

How to Make Homemade Cranberry, Quinoa, and White Chocolate Granola Bars

In a large pot add butter, brown sugar and honey and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir constantly. Once the mixture reaches a boil, lower the heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and salt.

Stir in Nature Valley Protein Crunchy Granola Cranberry Almonds, rice cereal, quinoa and Craisins. Stir until completely combined.

Prepare a 9×13 pan. I used my silicone baking mat to line the 9×13 pan. Other options include parchment paper or foil, sprayed with cooking spray. Take the mixture and add it to your prepared 9×13 pan. Press the mixture level with a spatula. Place pan in the refrigerator for 2 or more hours to cool and set.

Once set, lift on the edges of baking mat, foil or parchment paper to remove from pan. Using a large knife, cut rectangular bars.

Prepare your white chocolate by melting it in a double boiler or glass bowl over a pot of steamed water. Once melted, dip the bottom of the bar in the white chocolate. Place the bars on a silicone baking mat or parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet and return to the refrigerator to set.

To Store: Store in the refrigerator in a ziplock bag, tupperware or other airtight container. Separate layers with parchment paper so they don’t stick together.

I believe those homemade granola bars made with Nature Valley granola will be a hit in your home. I’d love for you to try out the recipe and let me know what you think.

For more great product and recipe ideas, I encourage you to follow Nature Valley on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Nature Valley Protein Granola via Burst Media. The opinions and text are all mine.