Chocolate and Butterscotch Chip Granola Bars

Do you have a favorite granola bar recipe? To date, mine is still this one. I've tried lots of other granola bars, but these are the crunchiest. They're slightly chewy around the edges and always hold together. Also, these are egg-free. The recipe calls for butter, but you can easily make them vegan by using plant butter.

Vermont Granola Bars

The recipe is adapted from King Arthur's "Vermont Granola Bars", but over the years I've taken liberties with it, including halving the recipe, getting rid of all the fruit, adding Rice Krispies and various flavored chips, and re-tooling the heat settings. These were always a hit with my daughter and her friends because they were (are!) sweet and candy-like.

Notes and Tips

• A half batch fits in an 8-inch square pan or better yet, a 6x9 inch mini sheet pan. The bars will be slightly thicker (as shown in the newer photos)
• The old recipe was baked at 450F, but I've reduced the heat to 400F for a more even bake.
• If you happen to have roasted, salted sunflower seeds, you can skip roasting them and reduce the salt by half in the recipe.
• An easy way to measure the saucepan ingredients is to set the saucepan on the scale and just add the butter, maple syrup and corn syrup by weight.
• Work quickly when pouring the sauce mixture over the oat mixture. Since you heated it to firm ball stage, it will start to set in the bowl.
• The mixture will cool down pretty quickly when you stir it together, but it will still be very hot, so you have to be careful not to let the chips melt. I usually put the mixture in the pan kind of loosely, test to make sure it's not scorching hot, then sprinkle on the chips. They'll soften a little, but shouldn't get completely melted.

Recipe

Chocolate and Butterscotch Chips Vermont Granola Bars

Anna

Crunchy granola bars originally from King Arthur.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Cooling Time 2 hours hrs

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 16 slices

Ingredients

 

• ½ cup roughly chopped pecans or walnuts (45 grams)
• ½ cup coconut, sweetened flaked or unsweetened
• 2 cups rolled oats (160 grams)
• ½ cup sunflower seed kernels
• ½ cup Rice Krispies (optional)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (84 grams)
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons corn syrup (120 grams)
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup (120 grams)
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons very firmly packed brown sugar (84 grams)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅓ to ½ cup mixed semi-sweet and butterscotch chips

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place the pecans on a large baking sheet and roast the pecans for about 2 minutes. Add the coconut to the baking sheet and roast along with the pecans for another 4 minutes or until coconut starts to brown and pecans become aromatic. Transfer to a mixing bowl.
• Add the oats and sunflower seeds to baking sheet and toast for about 8 minutes, stirring every 4 minutes, or just until oats start to brown. Add the toasted oats and seeds to the bowl with the nuts and coconut. Add the Rice Krispies.
• Line a 9x13 inch metal pan with parchment paper or nonstick foil.
• Stir the salt, butter, corn syrup, maple syrup and brown sugar together in a saucepan. Turn heat to medium and bring to a boil. Place a candy thermometer in the saucepan and allow mixture to boil over medium heat, without stirring, until mixture reaches 248 degrees F or "firm ball stage".
• Remove from heat and quickly pour syrup over dry ingredients. Add the vanilla, and stir until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into the pan. With a sheet of parchment, press down flat. Sprinkle the chips across the top.
• Put the pan in the oven and bake for 5 to 6 minutes at 400F Remove from oven. They will be hot, bubbly and mushy. Let cool for 8 to 10 minutes.
• Score the bars in half lengthwise, then cut crosswise to make 14 to 16 bars, depending on how skinny you want them. Do not separate (they'll be too mushy, anyway). Let cool for another hour or until bars are room temperature. Pull them apart and wrap individually.

Notes

You can omit the sunflower seeds or swap out the pecans and walnuts for pre-roasted, salted nuts.

Keyword Granola Bars

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