This chewy homemade granola bars recipe is so much tastier than store-bought! It’s one of our top healthy snacks to make at home.
Here’s a DIY healthy snack recipe that’s 100% worth making at home, if you’re got the time: Homemade Granola Bars! Packaged bars are ultra convenient: we buy them for on-the-go snacks. But the flavor of a homemade bar is infinitely more delicious! The secret here? Lightly toasting the oats brings out a delightfully nutty undertone. Mix them with honey, peanut butter and cinnamon for a pure, wholesome flavor: and add any mix-ins you’d like. Mini-chocolate chips are our favorite: they add a hint of sweetness to what still qualifies as a healthy bar (we think).
Ingredients in this chewy granola bars recipe
This granola bars recipe results in a chewy bar: it’s a no bake recipe that’s the opposite of the crunchy, baked variety. But there’s one spot where you’ll fire up the oven: for toasting the oats. Otherwise, it’s a dump and stir method! Here’s what you’ll need for this healthy granola bars recipe:
- Creamy peanut butter (or sunflower butter for nut free)
- Honey (or agave syrup for vegan)
- Old Fashioned rolled oats
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Mix ins: nuts, dried fruit, seeds, or mini chocolate chips
The flavor key: toasting the oats
This recipe is for no bake granola bars: with the exception of a quick 10-minute stint in the oven for the oats! Don’t even think about omitting this step. Here’s why:
- Toasting the oats adds major nutty, irresistible flavor. You might be tempted to skip this part, but it’s absolutely worth it! The flavor it adds is incredible.
- You’ll need just 10 minutes at 350 degrees. It’s quick and simple, and easiest in the oven because it lets you place all the oats in a single layer in a pan. (Technically you can toast oats on the stovetop, which we do in our Toasted Oatmeal recipe.)
Important note on granola bars mix-ins
Mix-ins are where you can get creative in these granola bars! A wide variety of nuts, seeds and dried fruit will work. But here’s an important thing to remember:
- Finely chop the mix-ins so the bars hold together. Huge nuts and seeds cause the texture of the granola bars to become more fragile, making them break more easily.
- Use mini chocolate chips, not standard size. Same idea as above: the standard size may cause texture issues. Mini chocolate chips are just the right size for incorporating in a granola bar. Just ½ cup gives great bursts of chocolate flavor. You can chop standard sized chocolate chips if it’s all you have.
Cutting granola bars
After you press your granola bars into a pan and freeze for 10 minutes, they’re ready to cut! You can cut them into different shapes, depending on what you’re looking for. The traditional granola bar rectangle is what you see here, but you can also do squares and get more servings out of it.
- Cut 14 bar sized shapes: measure each to 4 ½ by 1 ¼ inches
- Cut 20 rectangles: measure them to be 4 x 5 inches
Store refrigerated (chill a few hours before serving)
This chewy granola bars recipe is best after refrigerating for a few hours, which helps the texture to firm up. Technically you can eat them right away, but we prefer them chilled so they become more solid.
You can store homemade granola bars for up to 3 weeks in a sealed container. If you’d like, you can also individually wrap them in wax paper or parchment paper and secure them with tape.
Granola bar flavor combinations
Our favorite flavor for this recipe? Chewy chocolate chip granola bars, of course! But there are so many more fun flavor combinations. Here are some ideas to get your wheels turning:
- Peanut butter and jelly: add dried cherries or freeze dried strawberries
- Dried cranberry and white chocolate chips
- Pepita and cashew
- Blueberry muffin: add dried blueberries and chopped almonds
- Pecan pie: Add chopped pecans and ½ teaspoon allspice
- Coconut mango: Add shredded coconut and chopped dried mango
What are you planning to add to your granola bars? Let us know in the comments below!
More healthy energy bars
There are so many ways to make a healthy energy bar recipe at home! Here are a few more to try starring peanut butter and oats:
- Try our fan favorite Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars (must try!)
- Or, go round with Peanut Butter Energy Balls or No Bake Energy Bites
- Opt for healthy and Easy Oatmeal Bars
- Try a Pecan Energy Bar Recipe
This healthy granola bars recipe is…
Vegetarian, dairy-free and gluten-free. For vegan and plant-based, use agave syrup.
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Granola Bars Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 14 to 20 1x
Description
This chewy homemade granola bars recipe is so much tastier than store-bought! It’s one of our top healthy snacks to make at home.
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter (no sugar added; substitute sunflower butter for nut free)
- ½ cup honey (or ½ cup agave syrup for vegan)
- 3 ½ cups Old Fashioned rolled oats
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Up to 1 cup finely chopped nuts, dried fruit and seeds, or ½ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Toast the oats: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the oats in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast them for 10 minutes until lightly golden. (This step adds incredible toasty flavor to the oats: don’t skip it!)
- Mix the ingredients: Transfer the oats to a large bowl and mix in the peanut butter, honey, oats, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in mix-ins.
- Form into bars: Add a sheet of parchment paper to a 9″ x 9″ pan, letting the edges drape over the sides. Place the mixture into the pan and press it into an even layer. Add a few more mix-ins to the top of the bars, if you’d like. Use a small glass to roll over the top to make them as smooth as possible.
- Freeze and cut the bars: Freeze the bars for 10 minutes. Then remove the pan from the freezer and use the parchment to lift the bars out of the pan. Use a sharp knife to cut them into 20 rectangles (that are 4 x 5 inches) or 14 bar sized shapes (that are 4 ½ by 1 ¼ inches). Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. The texture is most solid after you refrigerate for a few hours, so if you have time do that before tasting the first bar. If you’d like, you can individually wrap the bars with parchment paper or wax paper and secure the wrapper with tape.
- Category: Snack
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: Snack
- Diet: Vegetarian
Keywords: Granola bars, Granola bar recipe, Homemade granola bars, Chewy granola bars
Let us know if you have any questions!
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Hi. Thanks for the great recipe 🙂. If I reduce the amount of honey by half (trying to make it less sweet) 😄, does it affect the bars to hold together? Thanks!
Yes this would affect the texture as the bars wouldn’t hold together as well! I would recommend making the recipe as is, removing chocolate chips and cut them into the 20 squares serving size — this would only be 1 teaspoon of honey per serving.
Wow, these are amazing! Perfect blend of salty and sweet. I made mine with almonds and dried cranberries (toasted the chopped almonds too). I use your cookbook often and it’s my favorite. This is my first time exploring website content, and it did not disappoint! Looking forward to exploring more of your website recipes until your next cookbook!
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Thank you!
Hi, I’m wanting to make your granola bars but have a question: do I need to cook the oats prior to roasting them? My daughter told me about you and uses your cookbooks often. I just subscribed to your email list. Thanks so much for your help and creating healthy recipes!
Thanks for the question! No just place the raw oats into the oven to roast them! Thank you for subscribing and thank you to your daughter for using our book!!
Can I use maple syrup instead of honey?
Yes! They might be just a bit more crumbly, but still good.
Can I add protein powder to these?!? They are my favorite granola bars ever, so good!!!
That should work! You may need just a bit more honey to get it too stay together.
Thanks for this granola bar recipe! I first made them for my wife and students who all went to Italy on a trip. With the long flights, I thought they would be a tasty and healthy snack and it seems even though I doubled the recipe, they didn’t last long! I have now made 6 or 8 batches each a little different as far as fruits and seeds but the ratio of peanut butter and honey, oats and add-ins makes adjusting and experimenting really easy! My wife takes one to school every day and everybody that tries them wants me to make more! :) Bravo! (Oh, and excellent idea to toast the oats. I sprinkle them with cinnamon before and toast them for about 15 minutes @350F)
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So glad you enjoy the recipe! Thank you :)
I’m exciting to try this, I’ve been using a very different homemade granola bar recipe for a couple of years (with variations on it) and want a new one. I was wondering if using almond butter instead of peanut butter would work? It’s not really that smooth but there’s no added sugar. (It’s Trader Joe’s brand)
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We use unsweetened peanut butter! You could use almond butter, but they won’t stick together quite as well as they do with peanut butter.
I’m excited to try this, I’ve been using a very different homemade granola bar recipe for a couple of years (with variations on it) and want a new one. I was wondering if using almond butter instead of peanut butter would work? It’s not really that smooth but there’s no added sugar. (It’s Trader Joe’s brand)
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