If there’s one thing I love, it’s making things from scratch. By making meals myself, I know exactly what is going into the food along with an almost exact calorie count. But if there’s one thing I hate, it’s following directions and taking an hour to figure out what ingredients I need to make the dish.

My love/hate relationship of making meals from scratch inspired my idea for two ingredient treats. Now, I’m a minimalist but that doesn’t mean boring food. Feel free to add other goodies that you’d like to the recipes, but know that only two ingredients will get you started with a great base that can be eaten alone or with your favorite healthy (or not so healthy) add-ins.

Granola bars are my go-to. Nature Valley has a great gluten free oat and honey bar, which sparked the creation of this treat idea –honey and oat granola bars. With these simple recipes and just a half an hour prep and bake time, you’ll be on your way to making your very own homemade granola bars!

What you’ll need:

1 1/2 cup quick oats

1/2 cup honey

Any add-ins you’d like (coconut, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, etc.)

Start by measuring out your oats into a medium size mixing bowl. Then go ahead and squeeze that honey in. The honey is what makes it hold together, so don’t be afraid to use as much honey as you think needed. If the honey doesn’t want to mix for you, pop the bowl into microwave for about ten seconds to get the honey to mix better.

This would be the time to mix in any add-ins that you’d like. I did half regular oat and honey and added dried cranberries and coconut to the second half. It turned out delicious and made the house smell wonderful.

Grab a baking pan or glass dish and line it with parchment paper. This makes for an easy bake and clean up process. After lined, pour the oat and honey mixture into the pan and knead it into the thickness desired. Pop that bad boy into the over for 20 to 25 minutes and you have yourself some homemade granola bars to enjoy for breakfast or an afternoon snack!

I love how easy this recipe is and used my batch as a quick snack before or after workouts. Feel free to play around with the goodies that you add to the recipe, and stay tuned for more two ingredient treats!