Chocolate Topped Peanut Butter Granola Bars

One of my favorite snacks is granola bars.  I really like the new Nature Valley Granola Thins.  Mike's grandma gave us some and I've been hooked ever since.  I never really liked the crunchy granola bars, but these have converted me! 

I've been making my own granola bars for years, remember the Chewies I told you about?  I used to make them back in middle school!  I really liked the idea of topping granola bars with chocolate or peanut butter, so I thought I would try that out with my new favorite granola bar recipe.  I feel like this is a pretty healthy recipe, it is low fat, uses whole wheat flour, and honey instead of corn syrup.  You could up the health factor by using dark chocolate instead of semi-sweet chocolate for the topping, but I'm not a huge fan.

On another note, did you notice that my blog has gotten a makeover?  (If you're reading this through Google Reader, click over to visit my blog and check it out!)  I'm still working on creating a recipe index for you as well as working on some other pages, but the overall look of my blog is completely different.  I'd like to give a huge thank you to Elena from Three Little Birdies Designs!  If you're thinking about a new look for your blog, I'd highly recommend Elena!

Chocolate Topped Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Makes 18 bars

You will need:

2-1/2 cups oats

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup peanut butter (I use natural)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1.  In a bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

2.  Stir in honey, peanut butter, and vanilla.  At this point, I find the mixture to be too thick to mix with a spoon, so I just use my hands!

3.  Press granola into a greased 9x13 pan.  It will look crumbly but it will bake together.

4.  Bake at 325 for 20 minutes, until the edges of the bars are browned.

5.  Sprinkle hot granola bars with chocolate chips, let them melt, and then spread over the bars.

6.  Cut into 1-1/2 inch bars.  I cut the bars width-wise first, and then I make one cut down the center of the pan length-wise.  Use a pizza cutter to cut bars--it makes it so much easier!

Store in an airtight container.