Try these Holiday Peppermint White Chocolate Granola Bars as a delicious treat for your next wintery walk with friends, a gym workout or even an evening ice skating with that special someone.
My Holiday Peppermint White Chocolate Granola Bars are jammed packed with nuts, granola, chocolate and wonderful textures. Mix these in layers and you get a fun snack just for fun or after a tough workout.
When you bite into these bars, the layer of chocolate spread gives a delicious ooze between the hardened white chocolate on top and the baked granola crust underneath. And, it’s a delicious 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, divided
¼ t Peppermint oil
1/3 C Candy cane, broken pieces
1 C Oats, old fashioned
½ C Pecans, rough chopped
½ C Chocolate, white chips for melting
Garnish for the top:
¼ C Peppermint candy cane pieces or sprinkles
Cook it up:
- Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl.
- Stir in the corn syrup, 1/3 cup hazelnut chocolate spread and peppermint oil
- Add pecans and oats, stirring to coat all.
- Press into a 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 hazelnut chocolate spread on the cooled granola crust. Set aside.
- Melt the white chips in a microwave safe bowl, according to the package directions.
- Drizzle and spread the melted white chips on top of the hazelnut spread.
- While the melted chips are still soft, sprinkle the peppermint candies 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 bars for long because they just don’t last long, they are that good. However, I do keep them in the refrigerator if they last 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, letting them thaw in the refrigerator overnight. If you thaw them on the counter they can “sweat” water spots on top of the hardened chocolate.
Enjoy these flavorful Holiday Peppermint White Chocolate Granola Bars for your workouts and, “Bake your own Memories!”