Foodstirs Chewy Oat Bar Mix, Chocolate Coconut, 15.2 Ounce, 6 Count

Easy to make. Would like one without chocolate option. and only oats and coconut.

These are delicious, seriously easy to make and honestly kind of addicting. My toddlers LOVE them all!

Easy and delicious!!! My kids loved it and it is the perfect snack.

I was interested to try these because I think many granola bars, like the majority of commercial cereal on the market, are just glorified junk food packed with sugar. While these do contain mostly organic and non-GMO ingredients, in terms of sugar content they're not much different than the major label manufacturers, like Quaker Oats and Nature Valley.On the upside, they're super easy to prepare - just mix 1/4 cup vegetable oil and 2 Tbsp of water with the contents of the pouch, press into a 8 x 8 inch baking pan and bake on 325 for 25 minutes. I was pleased at how easily they mixed up and how uniformly flat I was able to get them in the pan. Once they are completely cooled and cut, they're nearly indistinguishable from store bought bars. They came out super crispy (despite the fact that they're described as "chewy" on the package) and the Chocolate/Coconut flavor is sinfully delicious.But back to the nutritional content - after oats and chocolate chips (which also contain sugar), the next two ingredients are cane sugar and brown sugar. If you cut this into 16 bars, as instructed, each bar contains 10 grams of sugar and 18 grams of carbohydrates (just in case you're a carbo-phobe). However, if you prefer bars that are wider than one inch, they're going to have an even higher sugar/carb content than that. Personally, I made 12 bars, which came out ever-so-slightly narrower than a store bought granola bar. Also, I found the nutrition facts to be potentially misleading because they don't state whether the fat content listed is with or without the addition of the 1/4 cup of oil. Meaning that they might also have considerably more fat than 4.5 grams per serving. Since they're kind of greasy, I intend to try cutting back slightly on the oil next time and see if they come out as well.These are a delicious and slightly decadent alternative to store bought granola bars. If you want to eat all organic, non-GMO ingredients and don't mind putting in a little work, these will be perfect for you. However, if you're interested in cutting back on sugar, carbs or fat, not only are these no big improvement over the major label brands, but you also have to go through the trouble of mixing them, baking them, cleaning the dishes and finding a way to store them.Food for thought.

I’m not usually one for cooking. We rarely go beyond a crockpot or making some burgers and chips. However, this energy bar mix seemed easy to make so I figured I’d give it a try.When they arrived, I basically got six medium sized bags of a kind of cake mix. The only extra ingredients I had to provide was ¼ cup of vegetable cooking oil and 2 tablespoons of water.I was a little worried from the get go because my baking trays are either large flat ones or ones that are too big or two small. FoodStirs want you to use an 8x8 inch baking tray and the closest I could find was a 3x10 inch silicon one.Still, instructions were easy. Pre-heat the oven then empty the contents of a bag into a large bowl, pour in the liquids and evenly mix everything. Lightly grease your tray and spread the mix evenly inside. Put it in the oven for 25 minutes.Because of the unusual size of my tray I deviated from the instructions somewhat. My mix was a lot deeper because I used a smaller container so I figured I’d need to cook it longer. I heated mine at 400 for 30 minutes. Checked at 25 to make sure nothing was burning. When it was done I let it cool a bit and then flipped the baking tray over and let the slab of energy bad drop flat. I was a little concerned because the middle was softer than the outside edges and crumbled a little. Initially I tried a piece warm and it was crumbly. But we tried some again about 8 hours later as a snack after dinner and it had firmed up and was no longer crumbly. So I guess it needs to cool and set.The slab was not difficult to cut into bars with a bread knife, and I have to admit, they tasted good. They are a little sweet but not as sweet and sticky as a lot of bars you buy at the supermarket. I used extra virgin olive oil in my mix and it turned out fine. Cooking was easy, they taste good, my husband really liked the mix, no chocolate or anything sticky or messy so you can eat it these with your fingers. These make a very tasty snack. I really like them.