Going shopping the day after any major holiday is about as dangerous on my wallet—and my waistline—as an atomic bomb. Stores place their leftover candy and sweets on sale, all of which somehow magically falls into my basket and follows me back home.
This past Monday, the day after Easter, I stopped by Target in search of more food props and greeting cards. After perusing the stationery, I wandered to the back of their grocery section and accidentally discovered all of their discounted treats. By sheer willpower, I somehow managed to leave all of the Marshmallow Peeps on the shelves (when did they start making vanilla and orange crème-flavored ones?) and walk to the register without any candy in my cart.
It also helped that Target only offered a measly 30% off on their Easter treats… But those Reese’s peanut butter eggs and chocolate Easter bunnies still shouted my name as I departed!
I drove over to Safeway next, where I immediately bumped into their sale items prominently displayed in the very front of the store. They advertised at least 50% off on everything—now that I couldn’t resist!
I scoured through bags of jelly beans, mini Cadbury crème eggs, and fruity bubble gum, but I passed all of it by, except one innocent bag of dark chocolate eggs. (You guys must know me by now—dark chocolate is my biggest weakness!)
Just as I turned to leave and continue my regular grocery shopping, I spotted a few canisters of spring-themed sprinkles. Despite splurging on a couple of tubs from Target’s dollar aisle two weeks before, I still dropped one of the large pastel-filled containers into my basket.
To make room for my cute new sprinkles on my overstuffed baking shelves, I finished off an older jar by creating a cute new treat…
Skinny Funfetti Cake Batter Granola Bars! These chewy snacks taste just like your favorite buttery cupcakes and are packed with colorful rainbow sprinkles. Despite their fun birthday party-themed flavor, they’re still surprisingly healthy: these bars are low fat, low calorie and full of fiber!
You don’t actually use funfetti cake mix to made these easy granola bars. You just need one secret ingredient: butter extract. Butter extract tastes exactly like cake batter without the excess fat and calories, and you can find it around the same shelves as vanilla and almond extracts on the baking aisle. It’s shelf-stable and keeps for ages, and you can use the leftovers to make this, this or these!
When it comes to baking with sprinkles, I prefer jimmies. They’re the long thin ones, and they rarely bleed when folded into the oat mixture (or regular cake batter either!). Avoid nonpareils—the tiny spherical ones—because they almost always bleed and will turn your granola bars (and cupcakes) an unappetizing shade of gray. Any larger sprinkles should work, like circles, hearts, and even star-shaped ones. You can even use festive 4th of July or Christmas-themed ones as those holidays draw closer!
For these granola bars, use old-fashioned oats—not instant or quick-cooking oats. With their thicker texture, old-fashioned oats absorb a little less liquid and create a better chewy texture. Save the instant oats for cookies instead! (These, these, and these are my favorites!)
Once cooled and cut, I usually pack the individual bars in plastic wrap and leave them in the fridge. There’s an added bit of fun when my snack attacks hit and the time comes to unwrap one—almost like opening a gift with that many cute colors inside!
With their sweet buttery flavor, these Skinny Funfetti Cake Batter Granola Bars taste just like your favorite sprinkle-studded cupcakes. Full of hearty oats and bright rainbow jimmies, they’ll keep you full and satisfy your sweet tooth too.
Snack time just got a whole lot cuter!
These healthy granola bars taste like your favorite childhood cupcake flavor! With their buttery flavor and bright rainbow sprinkles, these bars will disappear really quickly at snack time. Store any leftovers in an airtight container or tightly sealed inside plastic wrap.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F, and lightly coat an 8”-square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, stir together the coconut oil, applesauce, milk, honey, and butter extract until smooth. Add in the oats, stirring until thoroughly coated. Fold in the jimmies.
- Gently press the mixture into the prepared pan, and bake at 300°F for 13-16 minutes, or until the center is no longer wet to the touch. Cool completely to room temperature in the pan before slicing into bars.
Notes: Vegetable oil, canola oil, or melted butter may be substituted in place of the coconut oil.
Any milk (2%, 1%, whole, or non-dairy) may be substituted in place of the skim milk.
Agave, brown sugar, or granulated sugar may be substituted in place of the honey.
I have these in the oven right now and they smell amazing!! Just like cupcakes only healthier! Can’t wait to put one in my son’s lunch bag tomorrow for a birthday surprise!
That’s so sweet of you Catherine! Your son has the best mom in the world to surprise him on his birthday. Hope he has a wonderful day celebrating! 🙂
These are awesome! You combined two of my favs, Funfetti and granola bars! 🙂 I wish I had a few to snack on right now!
Thanks Jocelyn! If only we lived closer… I love late-night baking (in fact, I have bread dough rising in the oven right now!) and would make you a batch this very second! 🙂
I have a really hard time finding butter extract (I’ve been to so many grocery stores, health food stores, etc. It’s too expensive to order online because of shipping costs). Can it be replaced with vanilla or almond extract? And if I substituted butter for the coconut oil, would it then retain its buttery flavour? Either way, this looks like exactly the recipe I need to get rid of some left over sprinkles. (Plus, I’ve been thinking of just making my own granola bars instead of buying them. Somehow, food is much more satisfying when it’s homemade.)
Michelle, I’m so sorry you’ve had that much trouble finding butter extract; that must be such a headache! Do you happen to have a Walmart nearby, by chance? They often sell a big bottle on their wedding aisle. It’s a clear container that’s tall and thin, and it should be 4 oz. (It’s labeled “Butter Flavor,” but that’s the same thing as extract!) Otherwise, you can add either vanilla or almond extract, but even with using butter instead of coconut oil, the granola bars would taste more like vanilla and not quite cake batter. I’d love to hear what you think if you make these granola bars! 🙂
These sound incredible! I can’t wait to give them a try. I’m going to pick up some butter flavoring on my way home from work 🙂
Thanks Paula! I really hope you enjoy the granola bars! 🙂
I really want to make these but I am having such a hard time finding butter extract!! 🙁 I will need to keep looking otherwise I might order it online… I have been looking for a home made granola bar recipe that my daughter will like more than chewy bars and I think this might be a winner (sprinkles always do the trick) 🙂
Sprinkles would’ve definitely worked for me too as a little girl, Katelyn! Do you have a Walmart nearby? They sell butter extract on both the baking aisle and on the wedding aisle. And if you have any specialty/upscale grocery stores nearby, those should definitely stock it too. I hope you’re able to find it, and I’d love to hear what your daughter thinks of the granola bars!
I was so excited to find this awesome recipe. I just made them and they don’t look anything like your pics. I used melted butter (instead of coconut oil) and whole milk, otherwise followed the instructions exactly. For some reason they are thin and sort of falling apart. They taste good, but I was a little disappointed. Thanks for any tips you can give so I can try again!
I’m sorry the granola bars didn’t turn out like you expected Lisa; that must have been disappointing. If they were thin and falling apart, I’m guessing that they were baked in a 9″-square pan instead of an 8″-square pan. Using the smaller, correct sized pan will ensure that the bars are as thick as in my photos. Also, make sure you’re using the full amount of oats — using less would lead to thin, falling apart bars as well. I hope your next batch turns out perfectly!