Granola bars are a great after-school snack. Finding one that has all natural ingredients and is organic and affordable can be a challenge. If you have a gluten-free and nut-free kid, even more difficult.
I’ve never made granola bars before. Every recipe I found was either full of tree nuts, peanuts, or binding agents I don’t want to use. For this reason, I’ve chosen to put off creating my own and focusing my attention on nutritious school lunches.
Since starting my daughter on a gluten-free diet, I’ve been experimenting a lot in my personal blog with different recipes and ideas to make them delicious and healthy for my daughter (who also has a peanut allergy).
I finally decided to tackle my nemesis: the granola bar.
It’s delicious. I know. Try to control yourself from eating it yet! You’ll thank me later. This recipe is really easy to make. You measure and mix the ingredients, spread it on a baking dish, cool, cut, and serve!
While you’ve been standing there, smelling them, wanting them, waiting for them to cool, I know you’ve been eating chocolate chips from the bag. Admit it! Okay, maybe that’s just me, but it also gave me the yummy idea to melt some additional chocolate chips and drizzle it over the bars. Mmm…
You don’t have to add the drizzle, but I did. I went there. There’s no going back now; there are never regrets when it comes to chocolate!
I wrapped the bars individually in waxed paper and stored them in an airtight container with a lid. That way, we can easily grab bars on the go for lunches or snacks!
These have been a big hit with the fella and my Little Miss! The smell of a banana chocolate chip muffin, but the yummy texture of a granola bar. From my family to yours, ENJOY!
Banana Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
- Cuisine: Baking
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups rolled oats (GF Harvest oats are both gluten- and nut-free.)
- 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2/3 cup chocolate chips (EnjoyLife brand are gluten- and nut-free.)
- 1/2 cup crunchy flax cereal (EnjoyLife brand is gluten- and nut-free.) (You could also use a gluten-free crunchy rice cereal, if you prefer.)
Instructions
- On an ungreased baking sheet, spread the oats out evenly, and bake at 350F for about 10 minutes, stirring once in the middle of that time.
- Remove the oats from the oven, leaving the oven ON, and let them cool completely.
- While the oats are cooling, you can mix together the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. After the oats are cooled, add them to the bowl, and mix thoroughly.
- Lightly coat an 8×8 baking dish with cooking spray, and place the mixture evenly into the dish, using your fingers to help push it down flat and into the corners.
- Bake at 350F for about 25 minutes.
- After cooking, allow to cool completely.
- After the bars have cooled and the chocolate has hardened, you can slice it however you prefer. I chose to slice down the middle and into six even cuts lengthwise to make 12 bars.
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The Enjoy Life Flax Cereal has been discontinued. I cannot find anything even close to this. What do you suggest?
They have other flax cereals in their line. Substitute for the same amount. Enjoy!
Could you use Special K red berries cereal as the cereal? It’s my favorite cereal.
You sure can! Feel free to try it with any cereal your family loves.
I tried theses today and I think 2 bananas may have been too much. They’re pretty soft and definitely more cake-like and the kids don’t like the texture. I’ll try with the applesauce next time.
Thank you for this recipe! I added 1/2 c of sunflower seeds, and 1 c of cranberries and raisins combined. Oh, and I cut back on 50% of the chocolate morsels. Yummy snacks for my daughter’s lunch at a nut-free school.
★★★★★
Can I use Arrowhead Mills one ingredient puffed rice for the cereal? Thanks
I don’t see why not!
Any other suggestions for substitutions for the crunchy cereal? I just don’t have any on hand, but I have all the other ingredients. Would chopped nuts work (we have no allergy issues).
the cereal adds volume to these bars. What about making these or these?
Can you tell me approximately how many cups of mashed banana you use? My bananas may have been too large…the bars have been in the oven for over 35 minutes & still don’t look cooked :( Is the texture supposed to be cake-ish?
P.S. my bag of chocolate chips is always open ;)
Oh goodness! I don’ t know the exact amount off hand, but it’s fair to say 2 medium mashed would be between 1/2-3/4 cup total. They’re not cakeish – which leads me to believe it must have been too much banana.
If they don’t hold because they’re too ‘mushy’ they might be good mixed in with yogurt ;)
thanks
they definitely hold, but are a bit chewy…I’ll go with smaller bananas next time :)
I made these last night with applesauce instead of bananas, and they were pretty crumbly. Any suggestions re: getting them to stick together more? Thanks
substitutions are always tricky. can you cut the apple sauce in half or even less? bananas are pretty sticky and help! you could prob omit them.
Thanks Laura, I’ll give that a try :)
oops sorry, I see above there is a comment that these work with 3 tablespoons of applesauce instead of bananas. Thanks
Hi, my daughter has celiac disease but is also allergic to bananas. What can I use to replace the banana ingredient? Thanks. (I’m excited for this recipe – she’s not allergic to nuts, but her school doesn’t allow nuts!)
How long can you store those granola bars? I never made something like that myself, but want to try.
Hello and good question!! Typically anything baked with banana will only keep a couple days. If you store in the refrigerator (that’s what I do) in an airtight container, they should keep 1 week. You can also freeze them for 2-3 months. Hope this helps! :)
I can’t wait to try these. I have 2 children on the Autism spectrum and attempt to provide gluten free meals and snacks. Not always easy. I’ll let you know how they go over. Thank you
Our pleasure Raye. We hope they enjoy them!
We don’t have any food allergies but these look yummy and I will have to try them!
Hope you enjoy them!! :)
Great! Gluten free treats! Does anyone have any idea what can be substituted for the banana? Or can the banana be omitted? I am highly allergic. Thanks.
The banana adds moisture. I didn’t have a banana and used 3TB apple sauce, they turned out really good!
Thanks for replying on this Laura! :) Awesome to hear yours turned out great with applesauce!
For added fun, you can cut them into fun shapes with cookie cutters instead. Then cut the scraps into little bites.
Great idea – you absolutely can cut them into fun shapes!
Thank you for this recipe! I love the idea of home made granola bars but, like you, thought it was off limits because of my son’s nut allergy. Can’t wait to make these!
Thank you Sally! My daughter has been absolutely loving them! It was always an item we too thought was off limits. They’ve been great for her lunches and snacks for school. ENJOY!!