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I love a good granola bar. Â My kids love them too. Â They make for an easy breakfast on the run, snack or filling addition to the lunchbox.
While store-bought granola bars might be convenient, paying nearly $4 for 6 individually wrapped organic bars can get quite expensive! Unlike the packaged kind, these are fresh, healthy and made with the wholesome ingredients you choose.
These granola bars are soft, without being cookie like and don’t crumble like so many homemade bars do. Â The ingredient list allows for flexibility (don’t we all love that) and they can truly be customized to you and your child’s preferences.
Dried fruits, nuts, seeds, chocolate chips, even the peanut butter can be swapped for sunflower butter. Â I especially love that many of these ingredients are pantry staples, so it’s quick to throw them together in a pinch.
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup rice crispies
- 1/2 cup sucanat (or brown sugar)
- 1/3 cup oat flour (or 1/3 cup oats processed til finely ground in a food processor)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
- 2 cups dried fruit, nuts or chocolate chips (mix it up, but total should be roughly 2 cups)
- 1/3 cup peanut butter (optional)
- 6 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup honey, maple syrup or brown rice syrup
- 1 tablespoon water
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8x8 pan lining with parchment paper or using a nonstick spray.
- Stir together dry ingredients, including fruit and nuts. In a separate bowl, whisk together vanilla, melted butter, liquid sweetener and water. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, including peanut butter (if using), combine until crumbly.
- Spread into the prepared pan, pressing firmly. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown along the edges. These will still be soft when they come out of the oven, almost like they are under baked. Keep the bars in pan until completely cool (this will help them mold, to avoid crumbling). Once cool, cut with serrated knife. If bars still seem crumbly, even after fully cooling, place them in fridge for 30 minutes to help them set.
- Wrap individually and store in air tight container.
One of our favorite combinations are dried cranberries and apricots, with dark chocolate chips and maple syrup for sweetener. Just remember to keep measurements the same when swapping out some of the ‘add-ins’ and you have a never-ending variation of the beloved granola bar!
adapted from King Arthur Flour
Can these be frozen? Do they thaw okay or do they get soggy?
Hi Brittany! I’ve never frozen the granola bars. after 3-4 days they are typically gone! ;) if you make them and freeze them, will you let me know how they turn out?
How much vanilla and do you think coconut oil could replace the butter? Thanks!
1tsp vanilla (sorry, just edited recipe) and yes, I make mine with coconut oil instead of butter. enjoy!
These are so good! I’m making them a second time today and the coconut oil worked beautifully!
The vanilla wasn’t listed in the ingredients and how much. Looking forward to making these soon :))
oops! thanks for noticing! just edited the recipe. 1tsp. enjoy!
I live in Spain and do not have access to Rice Crispies (well, I think I can get chocolate ones!). Any other ideas? Can I increase the oats (maybe pulsing them for a second or two for a different texture) or do you suggest another cereal? Also, when the edit was made someone forgot to add “vanilla” after “1 teaspoon”…just an FYI. Thank you for a great recipe!
Hi Betsy! Funny thing is that I am from Spain! ha! yes, I know you get the chocolate crispies there but not the plain ones. You need an “air puffed” cereal. some natural stores (tiendas ecologicas) have air puffed rice. If not, something like the smacks or plain cheerios will work. their ‘puffiness’ separates the textures. if you add more oats the “bar” will be very dense.
I have Quaker instant oats and old fashion oats. Would one of those work instead of rolled oats and can either of those be used for the oat flour???? Thanks for the recipe, I am excited to try it ASAP:-)
Hi Michelle! “old fashioned oats” are the same as traditional rolled oats (give or take) use the old fashioned for the oat flour. it’s the most complete. you’ll love the bars!
How many calories per bar
Wendy- We are more concerned with the use of “real” ingredients than caloric intake. Although that said, we would never post something where you are eating a stick of butter per serving! lol
There are many websites that calculate calories, you could plug the information in. Of course, it depends on how big one cuts the bars.
So would you substitute 6 TB of coconut oil for the 6TB of butter? I think the first time I make them I make do 3/3 and see..But I think I will make them tomorrow while kids are at school, although we have a few Annies Bars left…I want to move away from buying them, since they are so easy to make..I actually think the chocolate rice krispies might be a welcomed difference :-)
Absolutely. You can substitute the coconut oil for butter on this one. :)