These Homemade Granola Bars can be made in about 15 minutes and they are a delicious snack that is perfect for when you are on the go!
If your family is just as busy as ours, you know that having delicious snacks that your kids can grab as they run out the door to soccer practice is important. I love having the ability to make those snacks from scratch so I know exactly what is in them.
These easy to make homemade granola bars totally fit the bill. They come together with simple ingredients that are easy to keep in your pantry anytime the craving for chewy granola bars strikes.
My new favourite bar! So good! Thanks.
How to Make Homemade Granola Bars
This is a quick overview of how to make this delicious healthy snack. For the full recipe with all of the measurements, see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Prepare the pan. Line a small baking dish with aluminum foil and spray it with cooking spray.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a big bowl.
- Make the sauce. In a small sauce pan combine the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer.
- Allow the sauce to cool. Give your sauce mixture about five minutes to cool down a bit so it doesn’t immediately melt the chocolate chips.
- Combine the ingredients. Press the mixture into the prepared pan.
- Let the granola bars set. After about four hours, you can remove them from the pan, cut it into fourths and then cut each fourth into three pieces to make 12 bars.
Substitutions and Variations
- Don’t use peanut butter. If you are making these for someone with a peanut allergy, or you just don’t like peanut butter this is an easy solution. Swap the peanut butter for a different nut butter like almond butter or sun butter. You could also try Wow Butter, which is a great alternative and is nut free.
- Change out the fruit. Leave out the dried cranberries and put in raisins instead. Lots of different dried fruits would be delicious in this; dried cherries or cut up pieces of dried mango would be great too.
- Use less chocolate. I know, that sounds like blasphemy. But if you want to cut the sugar and up the protein a little, take out half of the chocolate chips and put in finely chopped peanuts.
- Use more oats. If you are looking for an even chewier texture, swap out the cereal and replace it with more oats.
- Exchange the honey for maple syrup. If you don’t like the taste of honey, maple syrup could be used instead.
Quick Cooking Oats for Granola Bars
Quick cooking oats are just old fashioned oats that have been finely chopped. Their smaller size is what makes them cook quickly.
We love using them in this recipe because their small size is part of what makes the bars so chewy. If you only have Old Fashioned Oats you could run them through your blender. You could also just use them as is and know that the granola bars will be slightly less chewy.
Please see my photos below to see how you can take Old Fashioned Oats and break them down for this recipe.
Storing Granola Bars
These bars should be stored in an air tight container and will keep for up to one week.
You can also freeze these homemade granola bars. Place them on a parchment paper lined plate and freeze for 2 hours. Transfer to an airtight container, stacking if necessary, and return to the freezer for up to three months.
You can put the frozen bars in backpacks in the morning and they will be thawed by snack time.
FAQ
Unfortunately, no. I do not recommend making this without the brown sugar. The boiled brown sugar is what helps hold the bars together.
This recipe has not been tested with a sugar substitute, but it has been my experience that sugar substitutes don’t hold recipes together the same way when boiled.
This recipe is naturally gluten free, but please double check the oats you use to ensure that they weren’t made in a facility that also processes ingredients containing gluten.
Other Great Healthy Snacks
If you make this homemade granola bar recipe or any of my other recipes, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I always love hearing from you.
Homemade Chewy Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups quick cooking oats read how to make your old fashioned oats into quick cooking here (178 grams)
- 1/2 cup O shaped cereal (13 grams)
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips pull some out to keep for topping the bars (88.5 grams)
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries pull some out to keep for topping the bars (80 grams)
- 1/3 cup honey (111.3 grams)
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (56.5 grams)
- 1/4 cup peanut butter (67.5 grams)
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar packed
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
Instructions
- Place foil in an 8 by 8 baking dish. Spray with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the quick cooking oats, cereal, chocolate chips, and dried cranberries.2 cups quick cooking oats, 1/2 cup O shaped cereal, 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- In a small saucepan over medium low heat, combine the honey, butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, vanilla and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and simmer for one minute (while stirring). Remove from the heat and allow to cool for about five minutes.1/3 cup honey, 1/4 cup unsalted butter, 1/4 cup peanut butter, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- Pour the wet ingredients over the mixture in the large bowl and stir to combine. Pour it into the square baking dish and push down to fill it evenly. Sprinkle with the set aside chocolate chips and dried cranberries, pushing down slightly.
- Cover and allow to cool for four hours or overnight.
- Remove from the pan and cut into equal pieces. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Crystal says
Can I sub more oats for the cereal? Thanks! :)
Yes! That will work fine!
Elizabeth says
I love this recipe, but I was wondering. Could I omit the brown sugar and just use a little more honey? I’m trying to cut back on sugar.
Dorinda says
I was wondering the same thing as Elizabeth – I cut about half the sugar called for in all recipes I use. Maybe try using half the brown sugar and half the honey?
Hi Elizabeth! Since this was first posted, I’ve tweaked the recipe a little and have cut the brown sugar in half. They still turn out great.
Melissa says
Will these hold up if I use vegan butter?
Vegan butter would be great in these
Mike says
Hi Lisa, my wife is allergic to peanut butter, do you think sun butter would work? Thanks mike
I think that would be a great substitute in this! Love Sun Butter!
Taylor says
Do you think almond butter would work fine? I don’t like peanut butter😂
Yes, I think that will be fine!
Ai Lin says
Hi, was wondering if I could sub with rolled oats and bake these instead of letting it set in the fridge?
I haven’t tried that if you do let me know how it goes!
Gwen says
I used puffed quinoa instead of O’s and used white chips that I melted into liquid! Removed 1/4 cup of oatmeal and added pumpkin & chia seeds and coconut! Wanted to make bit more healthy! I turned out amazing this will be my go to 😊
Shauna says
My new favourite bar! I add cocoa and chocolate chips for a more chocolate flavour! So good! Thanks.
I’m so glad you liked these!