Chocolate Dipped S’mores Granola Bars

5 from 3 votes

Whether you’re packing up lunches for school or headed out on a day of errands to be run these chocolate dipped s’mores granola bars are the bees knees!

How Long do Granola Bars Last?

The precise answer depends to a large extent on storage conditions -to maximize the shelf life of granola bars, store in a cool, dry area.

Properly stored, a package of granola bars will generally stay at best quality for about 6 to 8 months.

We are big on finding ways to make lunch time special for our girls while they are at school. Not every day because I hate to break it to you, but I’m just not good at being a pinterest mom. I can’t look up cute things and constantly be making chalkboards for lunch boxes and surprises for their backpack, but Cade and I do like to leave little notes with a special something.

How do you Store Homemade Granola Bars?

Granola can be stored in an airtight container, in a cool, dry spot for six months (sometimes longer).

You can also freeze granola and granola bars just as you would cookies or other treats — wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and/or in resealable freezer bag.

We’ve partnered up with Mom’s Best Cereals to show you what we are sending this year to remind the kids to think of our good memories from summer, but it’s time to work hard at school.

It’s funny how it happened, Cade and I were grocery shopping and I told him that although we are a big cereal eating family I’m sick to death of walking down the aisle full of sugar packed, artificial everything cereal boxes. So he found Mom’s Best Cereals which are completely transparent about what’s in the box, no hydrogenated bla bla bla, no synthetic colors and on and on. And then 2 1/2 weeks later we got an email to work together. I mean come on, could it have been any more perfect?!

Yes, they taste delicious. I know that’s what you were wondering. Sometimes the natural stuff tastes like cardboard, but we cross our hearts promise that a small switch to Mom’s best really is better for your family and you’ll still love the taste.

The girls love to get creative so I told them to pick two cereals and we would make granola bars for the first week of school. This is something we’ve found helps with the first week of school jitters too. They get busy with something fun, anticipate it in their lunch box and feel connected to us while at school all day which makes everything go better.

Honey Grahams and Crispy Cocoa Rice were chosen so almost immediately our oldest shouted out, can we make it into S’mores?! Heck yes!! This is your week! Now we used high quality maple syrup but you could use molasses and we found that toasting the oats first leads to a crisper granola bar that sticks together better, but you can always skip the toasting and just add on to the final baking time by about 15 minutes if you’d like.

And go with the tiny marshmallows that you buy in a jar from Walmart or Target. If you can’t find them you could try minis but we haven’t tested with those. The real winner is dipping them in chocolate at the end. A little nod to a chocolate dipped granola bar that I had as a kid in my own packed lunch.

Wrap them up, leave a little note of encouragement or throw in a few extras with a note to find 3 friends to share them with (making sure they mention the nuts that give extra crunch and nutrition but could be bad news if there was a nut allergy. We have to always warn just in case!) so they can make new friends. So go have fun and let us know what you think!

Are Granola Bars Bad for Dogs?

Dogs may appreciate a chewy treat, just like granola bars are.

Because dogs like to chew, this seems like an easy answer to what they can snack on.

But it depends on what’s actually in the food.

In granola, you find rolled oats and puffed brown rice.

These are pretty much okay for dogs, since these carbohydrates are found in many dog foods, as filler and as necessary carbs to get your dog’s energy going for the day.

The biggest risk for dogs eating granola is the fiber.

The fiber could cause temporary diarrhea, and the dog might benefit from oatmeal and brown rice instead.

For many dogs, nuts are a problem too, and lots of granola bars have nuts in them.

Raisins, also are a problem for dogs.

You should check for these problem ingredients before giving a dog granola bars.