Sweet, salty and chewy, these are popular at the Elders’ Events, and several people have asked for the recipe!

Ingredients

for the base layer:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 300 gm butterscotch chips

for the granola layer:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 cup honey
• 3 1/2 cups oats
• 3 1/2 cups puffed rice cereal
• 3/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
• 1 cup sesame seeds, toasted
• 1 cup raisins or dried cranberries

Directions

Line a 9×13″ rimmed sheet pan or jelly roll pan with baking parchment. Gently melt the 1/4 cup of butter and butterscotch chips together in a microwave or double boiler. Mix well and then transfer to the sheet pan, encouraging it to cover the entire surface. This will take some time and persistence; an offset metal spatula or similar implement will be helpful, and it will be more of a pressing-and-persuading process than a spreading one. You will be proud of your smooth rectangle when you are done! Set the pan aside.

Combine the remaining 1/2 cup of butter in a saucepan with the honey and peanut butter and heat gently to melt and thoroughly combine.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Pour the honey-butter-peanut-butter mixture over top and stir thoroughly to combine.

Press the granola layer onto the base layer. Moistening a silicone spatula or your hands with a bit of water will facilitate this. It won’t look like it will all fit, but keep pressing and you will get it all in there. Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes and then give it another bit of stern compression.

Place back in fridge to chill completely (at least 2 hours), then slice to desired size.

Makes 48 medium-sized bars. Can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to several weeks.

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Notes:
This recipe is scaled to use an entire bag of butterscotch chips and it makes a lot of bars. It is easily halved, in which case it will fill an 8×8″ pan.
You can substitute the honey with corn syrup, agave nectar or maple syrup.
Some or all of the seeds can be swapped out for chopped nuts.
Peanut butter can be replaced with sunflower or almond butter.
If you only have crunchy peanut butter on hand, that’s fine; just increase the amount to 3/4 of a cup.
This recipe is gluten free as-is, but celiacs will want to use certified gluten-free oats and puffed rice.