Chewy Granola Bars

Because of the food allergies in our family it can be difficult to find store bought granola bars that they can all eat so I was very happy when I stumbled on these No Bake Chewy Granola Bars from Rachel Ray. The changes I made are listed in red next to the ingredient list.

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 cups granola, such as Back to Nature brand
1 cup rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies
1/2 cup raisins (we usually omit these and add a bit more chocolate chips and pretzels)
1/2 cup thin pretzel sticks
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar with the honey and butter. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes (do not over cook or you will have CRUNCHY granola bars). Remove the saucepan from the heat.

Add the granola, rice cereal, raisins and pretzels to the saucepan and fold the ingredients to evenly coat with the sauce. Transfer the granola mixture to a 9-by-13-inch ungreased baking pan and press firmly to evenly fill. Gently press the chocolate chips onto the top of the granola. Let the granola mixture set in the refrigerator until firm, about 15 minutes, then cut into 2 1/4-by 3-inch bars.

(we substitute all kinds of things in place of the chocolate chips & raisins....dried cranberries, skippers (or M&M's), cinnamon chips, white chocolate chips etc. to keep things interesting).