Homemade Clif Bars (First Attempt)

We do love Clif Bars. They taste great. They’re not terrible for you. And they are natural(ish).  There are a couple of drawbacks. They’re not the cheapest things in the world and there are a few oddball ingredients that I’d like to avoid. So I decided to try and make my own. Spoiler alert, it didn’t turn out the way I wanted but here is what I did:

I gathered all of my ingredients together, the main ones being oats, rice crisps, and brown rice syrup:

In a mixing bowel, I took 1 and ¼ cups of rice crisp cereal:

I love the markings in all-clad measuring cups

Added 1 cup of oats:

I added 2 tablespoons of flaxseeds:

I attempted to grind them down, first in a food processor and then with a spoon:

It didn't work

It would probably be better with flax meal instead of the seeds.

Here is the first step:

While I was doing that I took 1/3 cup of brown rice syrup:

And put it in a small pot on medium heat with ½ cup of fresh ground peanut butter:

(Here is where I think the main problem lies: I think I should have used more rice syrup and probably not used the fresh ground type of peanut butter)

Once the mixture became a liquid paste:

Fresh ground wasn't the best idea

I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract:

I mixed the dry goods up by hand:

And then added the liquid, again mixing by hand:

Careful! It is hot!

Here I added in ½ teaspoon of cinnamon (just a little because it is strong):

After mixing it by hand until it cooled some I added ¼ cup of organic chocolate chips:

I lined a 8 X 8 pan with wax paper and poured the mix into it:

I then took another piece of wax paper and worked it into the pan:

I let it chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes and then I tried to cut it into 12 pieces. It was so dry that it kind of exploded when I went to cut it. But it did taste really good.

Chop and Boom!

So I’ll try it again with some more liquid next time. In the meantime I’ll eat these “bars” with a spoon and enjoy them.

The nutritional facts:

Though I'm not positive of the cost it was no more than $4.00 for 12 which is quite a bit cheaper than cliff bars (12 bars would be $12 at our Kroger).