Granola Bar Retreat Treats

My oldest daughter is  being Confirmed in May and she had her retreat this weekend.  She came home last night after Mass and she's very glad to be home - she didn't like the food. If you knew my daughter you'd know what a HUGE deal that is. She is such a foodie. She's in the culinary program at her vocational school and last year for her birthday, I bought her all her favorite foods, she was in heaven.  Anyway, she did enjoy the retreat, she said it was a good experience and not at all what she expected (in a good way), but as soon as she got home, she went out with her dad to get Chinese takeout.  My part in this retreat other than attending closing Mass this evening was to make a snack and I decided to attempt my fourth try at granola bars.

I have been determined to make my own, but it hasn't gone so well.  My kids love them and I usually buy the Quaker Oats low sugar peanut butter or chocolate chip, but I've been trying to save money buy attempting to make their snacks, namely, granola bars. I found this great recipe online - granola bars.  The first time I made it, they came out great and everybody loved them but I've made them twice since then and haven't had the same success.  Well, I decided to give it one more attempt, as I refuse buy them anymore.  I made a few adjustments and tried them out on my critics before I sent them to the retreat and... success!!  It was unanimous, I got the green light to make them again and they were allowed to go to the retreat!  

I know this is more a craft blog, but I wanted to share.  I made a couple of changes. The first change isn't a big deal, I used Easter M&Ms instead of chocolate chips.  The second change made more of a difference.  The kids were saying that they were too hard, so I baked them for 30 minutes, not 40 as the recipes says.  They do harden pretty quickly once out of the oven, but the kids are used to the chewy ones, so I tried for less time and it seemed to work. Everything else is the same.  Enjoy!