Add these delicious Double Chocolate Hazelnut Pecan Granola Bars to your treat bag for workouts, cross country skiing, ice skating, walking the dogs or other cool exercise programs. It’s packed with a hazelnut chocolate spread with melted chocolate on top.
When you bite into these bars, the layer of hazelnut chocolate gives a delicious ooze between the hardened chocolate and the baked granola crust. And, it’s a wonderful ooze!
Preheat your oven to 350F degrees.
Prep your 8”x 8” baking pan:
Line the pan with parchment paper, leaving enough over the edge for lifting it out of the pan.
Gather your crust Ingredients:
1 T Butter, melted
1 T Corn syrup, light
2/3 C Hazelnut chocolate spread, separated
1 C Oats, old fashioned
½ C Pecans, rough chopped
½ C Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Garnish Ingredient:
¼ C Pecans, rough chopped
Make, bake and cut them up:
- Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl.
- Stir in the corn syrup and 1/3 cup hazelnut chocolate spread to combine.
Add pecans and oats, stirring to coat all.
- Press into the parchment paper lined pan to set up the granola crust.
- Bake at 350F degrees for 15-16 minutes. It should be golden brown on the edges.
- Cool on a rack.
- Spread 1/3 cup hazelnut chocolate spread on the cooled granola crust. Set aside.
- Melt the semi-sweet chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, according to the package directions.
- Drizzle and spread the melted semi-sweet chocolate on top of the hazelnut chocolate spread.
- While the melted chocolate is still soft, sprinkle the pecans over the top.
- Let the bark completely cool and harden on top before cutting or breaking. You might want to set it in the refrigerator for a few minutes.
- Lift the entire big bar out of the pan by lifting with the parchment paper edges.
- Place the big bar on a cutting board and cut into the sized bars you like. I personally like to cut it 4 x4 to yield 16 bars.
Storage:
- I find that I don’t need to plan to store these Double Chocolate Hazelnut Pecan Granola Bars for long because they just don’t last long, they are that good. However, I do keep them in the refrigerator, hoping they don't disappear, for up to a week.
- Otherwise, to freeze, I wrap them individually in plastic wrap, then place in a sealable plastic bag. I have frozen them for up to a month, allowing them to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving. If you thaw them on the counter they can "sweat" moisture spots on top of the hardened chocolate.
Enjoy these flavorful Double Chocolate Hazelnut Pecan Granola Bars for your workouts and, “Bake your own Memories!”