Forget those boxed bars and make your own – these Funfetti Granola Bars are a fun twist on boring old granola!

When Doodle gets home from school, he’s always – always – ravenous.

I’d like to chalk it up to the fact that he’s growing like a weed and eating everything in sight, but the truth is that he’s probably spending the entire lunch time talking rather than eating.  He’s informed me on more than one occasion that talking is his favorite thing to do and eating ranks somewhere near the bottom of the list.

Me, on the other hand…well, I’d much rather eat than talk.

Anyway, this means finding some at least sort of healthy afternoon snacks to have at the ready.  While this kid usually munches on fruit and yogurt after school {okay, and the occasional bag of Goldfish crackers}, every now and then he requests a granola bar.

Anytime I can get him away from the crackers, I’m pretty much all for it.

I’ll admit – these funfetti granola bars could be made a lot healthier by not adding in the funfetti cake mix, but where’s the fun in that?  Sometimes the day just calls for sprinkles, you know?

And the first full week of second grade definitely calls for sprinkles.

Other than the {dry} cake mix, these bars are full of healthy ingredients: oats, agave, honey, and coconut oil.  Just stir everything together, press the mixture into an 8×8 pan, and bake at 325 for approximately 20 minutes.

My bars got a little gooey when I kept them at room temperature, so keep them refrigerated if you’d like your bars a bit firmer.

Funfetti Granola Bars

 

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Serves: makes 8 bars

Ingredients

• 2 cups dry oats
• ⅓ cup honey
• ⅓ cup agave nectar
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• ½ cup funfetti cake mix (just the dry mix!)
• extra sprinkles, if desired - I used about 2 tablespoons

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325. Line an 8x8 pan with foil or parchment paper sprayed with cooking spray.
2. Combine oats, cake mix, honey, agave and coconut oil in a medium bowl. Stir to combine, and then gently stir in sprinkles, if using.
3. Lightly press mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting.
4. Store in an airtight container up to 3 days. Keep refrigerated for firmer bars.

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