Homemade Chewy Granola Bars (without corn syrup!)
ByEvery homemade chewy granola bar recipe I’ve ever seen includes corn syrup and/or marshmallow cream (not ingredients we feel okay about eating). And every pre-made granola bar I have seen at the store (even the organic ones) have ingredients I don’t like feeding my family.
I finally figured out a chewy granola bar recipe that we like! It’s easy and includes all natural sweeteners and ingredients! These bars are way cheaper than store bought granola bars! Plus you can customize it according to your family’s taste and allergies! They can be easily wrapped individually to take in the car or packed in a lunch!
Now I will say this: I don’t recommend going overboard on these (or any) granola bar. Unsoaked oats can do a number on your digestive system. I just wanted to create a recipe that will help our family avoid the granola bars at the store when we need a quick, grab and go snack to take to soccer games or on trips. I consider these to be “compromise” snacks because of the unsoaked oats, but otherwise, I couldn’t be more thrilled to have finally figured out a yummy chewy granola bar!
Homemade Chewy Granola Bars
1/2 cup peanut butter or sunbutter
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup coconut oil (or another oil of your choice)
1 cup oats
1 cup total of any combination of: sesame seeds, coconut flakes, sunflower seeds, dried fruit, mini chocolate chips
In a medium sized saucepan, melt together peanut butter, honey and coconut oil.
Remove from heat and add one cup of oats. Choose your favorite combination of coconut flakes, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, dried fruit and mini chocolate chips, to equal a total of ONE CUP. (I just got out my one cup measuring cup and poured in the ingredients until the cup was full.) Pour in and stir well.
Stir well, then spread mixture into a 8×8 or 9×4 pan.
Chill for two hours, then cut into bars.
Wrap in plastic wrap for a quick grab and go snack!
I tried to make these but the peanut butter and honey got hard after being heated for a very short time. Any suggestions?
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Laura Reply:
July 22nd, 2011 at 6:16 am
Wow, I’m not sure what went wrong – that’s never happened to me before. :( My peanut butter actually starts out a little bit on the hard side because it is natural peanut butter and kept in the fridge. I have to leave it in the saucepan with the honey for a few minutes (while I stir) to soften and “melt” it.
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Katie Reply:
October 21st, 2011 at 7:23 pm
My mom made them for my brothers and my sister and I, and let me tell you they are GOOD! And now my mom said that I can make them whenever we want them! I’m glad my mom found this recipe.
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Sarah Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 11:49 pm
Do you use a pure honey that sometimes crystalizes when it’s a bit older and needs to be heated through in order to smooth it out? If so, then I suspect your honey is the culpret. I haven’t tried this recipe, but I use pure honey from a friend that raises bees. It crystalizes fast, smooths out after being heated, and recrystalizes after cooling.
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Tried these and took with us on vacation. They are terrific!
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I used this to adapt my favorite crunchy granola recipe… Cranberries, raisins, pepitas, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds. Also added 1 tsp. each flax seed and wheat germ. Actually left out the chocolate (something must be wrong with me), just to see how I like it.
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I will be making these, a lot of the recipes I have found have used sweetened condensed milk and you have to bake. These look so much better. I have been looking for a lot of “grab and go” recipes to keep us healthy while spending next week at the county fair, and I have found pretty much all I need on your site! Thanks for giving me some easy ways to keep my four boys eating decent!
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Can I use natural peanut butter?
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Laura Reply:
July 31st, 2011 at 5:57 am
Yes, that will work great!
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I tried a slight variation of your recipe today and it was quite delicious, thank you! I didn’t have any of your suggested “no more than one cup of” ingredients, so I smashed up some pretzels and cashews. They added a nice crunch and saltiness. I’ll definitely try this one again, and hopefully next time I’ll have the actual ingredients available!
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We love these but they come out really gooey and must say in the fridge or they melt what am I doing wrong I always put dried bananas dried apples and peanuts.
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Laura Reply:
August 8th, 2011 at 6:48 am
It could be that the dried fruit and nuts aren’t able to absorb the liquids in this recipe. I think it’s great to add those – you may want to try adding extra dry ingredients (coconut flakes, oats, etc.) to absorb the liquids and keep the bars from being too gooey.
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Stephanie Reply:
August 15th, 2011 at 7:08 pm
I do add extra oats I’ll try coconut next time thank you!!
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Will be trying these! Thanks!
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Do you think almond butter would work instead of peanut butter?
Thanks
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Laura Reply:
August 11th, 2011 at 4:06 pm
Yep!
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These look great! Can you suggest which oil might work best other than the coconut oil. I only have olive on hand and would hate these to be greasy if I chose the wrong thing. Thanks!
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Laura Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Olive oil may not work because it remains runny (although since you refrigerate these, they may firm up). I wonder if butter might work?
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Can you explain your comment regarding un-soaked oats doing a number on your digestive system and why they are bad compared to cooked oats? I am very new to healthy eating. Really just sticking my toe in the water. I know it is something I should do for my family. I love snacking so was thinking it would be good to tackle snacks first. This is my first comment and I have to say that I love your site. Thanks so much!
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Laura Reply:
August 13th, 2011 at 11:20 am
Here’s a post I wrote about soaking grains: http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/what-it-means-to-soak-grains, which will help explain the soaking side of things. However, I almost never soak my oats.
My family can handle oats just fine, soaked or un-soaked. I have found that I need to avoid oats almost entirely. They completely bloat me. Apparently I can’t digest them well. :)
As long as you handle eating oats well and it doesn’t upset your tummy, I’d say these granola bars are a perfect snack to tackle!
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What would I use in place of the peanut butter to make these to send with my son to school? (The school is a peanut-free school)
Thanks for the recipe. Can’t wait to make some for my boys!
God bless!
Stephany
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JP Reply:
August 21st, 2011 at 1:53 pm
Try using sunflower seed butter (sunbutter). A friend of mine teaches at a peanut-free school and they use this in their PB&Js.
I’ve bought it at Trader Joe’s and I’m sure Whole Foods has it. It may be more common? Not sure.
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Making these for the 2nd time. My picky family loves them. No more buying prepackaged, nasty granola bars again. I’ve also added wheat germ in addition to the nuts and sweets. Friends have asked for the recipe and I need to send 2 in my daughter’s lunch for her friend! So easy too.
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These look yummy and we are going on a camping trip so they will be perfect for on the go snacks! I am out of honey though, thinking of using rapadura? Have you ever used a granular sugar or maple syrup instead of honey???
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Laura Reply:
September 10th, 2011 at 4:37 pm
I haven’t tried anything other than honey, but rapadura, sugar or maple syrup would probably work fine!
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how long can you store granola bars. I am wanting to make some up and store them for long term, but unsure how these store?
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Laura Reply:
August 23rd, 2011 at 10:14 pm
I’ve stored them for up to two months in my fridge and they do just fine!
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I made these today and was wondering why mine weren’t setting up. In going over the recipe tonight I noticed I put in 3 times to much peanut butter! That’s what I get trying to multi-task and rush too many things! LOL…I’ll fix them tomorrow by heating them on the stove and adding some extra ingredients to make a double to triple batch. They will be great!
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Kristine A Reply:
August 29th, 2011 at 6:54 am
I fixed my mistake on these bars by heating them on the stove, adding more ingredients and then then letting it cool in the pan before adding in the stir-ins. They set up great and are wonderfully delicious.
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I have been following your blog for a few mths now, love your ideas! You have got me thinking about all of the processed foods, keep up with the great ideas! Wasn’t sure where I was supposed to leave comments about signing up for subscribing, or for the nutrimill give away, here it is anyway.
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I’m so glad I saw this! I adore granola, and my hubby likes to take granola bars to work. He drives truck, so it’s something handy for him to carry and eat that won’t go bad, like a sandwich or something (since he refuses to carry a lunch pail…. *sigh* LOL). I have been wanting to find a good recipe, and I’m sure this one will be really good! I wonder if this could be made crunchy also? I much prefer the crunchy variety. :-) I’ll have to play with it!
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These are so wonderful! I made two batches. The first batch, I stirred in mini chocolate chips, and they melted right in as the peanut butter mixture was still warm (this gave the bars the taste of a no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookie, which isn’t too shabby!). On the second batch, I sprinkled the chocolate chips on top of the mixture once I spread it in the pan, and they stayed like chips.
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Hi! I I tried to make these and did, however they are very SWEET – and more like a the texture of a “no bake” cookie – which is good, however I am curious of what i am doing wrong. I think it is the oats. I just used old fashion oats, is that wrong? please let me know your thoughts.
Tara
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Laura Reply:
September 16th, 2011 at 8:12 pm
I usually use old fashioned oats as well – maybe try putting in fewer chocolate chips next time to avoid the extra sweetness, as well as waiting until your liquid ingredients have cooled for a couple of minutes before adding chocolate chips so that they don’t melt throughout the bar, making them like a no-bake. :)
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I stirred in 1 tbsp. of cocoa with the oatmeal. Delicious!
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I made these this afternoon and they are super yummy! I ended up doubling my oats and also added sesame seeds, slivers almonds, puffed rice, raisins, and currants. Since I knew I was going to wrap them in plastic wrap any how I decided to make granola “balls” instead and saved me 1 step. The kids thought it was a novel shape and ate them up. Thank you for sharing!
P.S. Next time I make these I am going to use my soaked granola, thanks for the idea!
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I’m new to eating healthy and cooking…..excited about trying to do better for my family!! On this recipe do you cook the oats…..what kind of oats do I need to buy??
Thanks!
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Wondering if there is a way to make this recipe with soaked oats? Any ideas? I’m think oats may be the cause of bloating but I would be curious to try them soaked.
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Wondering if there is a way to make this recipe with soaked oats? Any ideas? I’m think oats may be the cause of bloating but I would be curious to try them soaked.
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LindseyforLaura@HHM Reply:
October 7th, 2011 at 8:00 am
I think if you soak the oats before hand you may need to dehydrate them to get the texture right. Otherwise there may be too many “wet” ingredients and it may not hold together too well. Good luck! I hope that helps :)
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Made these today with butter instead of coconut oil. SO YUMMY! The “extras” I used were 2/3 cup of sliced almonds and 1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips, bc that’s all I had on hand. The chocolate basically melted when I added it, but that made it even better I think. Seriously delicious, thanks for the recipe!!
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I made these and they amazing, only thing is, mine are extremely soft. Like, extremely soft. They won’t really set at all unless they are in the freezer or the fridge for a number of hours. What do you think I did wrong?
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Laura Reply:
October 22nd, 2011 at 2:31 pm
Hmm, not sure. Did you use coconut oil or butter? Butter makes them softer, and if your kitchen is warm, the coconut oil may have trouble setting up too.
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Micaela Reply:
November 15th, 2011 at 8:45 pm
I used canola oil, because I live remote in australia, where it’s just not practical to get coconut oil. I think I will try again using butter, because that will be a bit less soft than oil?
Thanks so much! My husband is obsessed with these!
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These look great! I am looking for some healthy and yummy snacks for my family. We are going to try these for sure! Thanks for putting it out there!
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Excited to try these! My 3 y.o. is allergic to peanuts and sunflower seeds/sunbutter, so I’m going to try almond butter. Haven’t been able to buy granola bars in a while because of her allergies, so this is wonderful!
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These granola bars are delicious! Thank you for sharing.
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Mmmm, I made these yesterday and now I cannot make them again…I ate the whole pan in two days! I did find that they were the perfect consistency when coming straight out of the fridge, but when they were at room temp they were too soft.
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LindseyforLaura@HHM Reply:
November 3rd, 2011 at 11:17 am
I am glad you liked them so much!
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For everyone who wondered– I tried making these with soaked, dehydrated oats today. I wasn’t impressed! They set up fine (although I think they would definitely need to stay in the fridge between uses) but the crunchy aspect kind of ruined them. I hoped they’d be like a crunchy store bought granola bar, but they were MUCH different, and not in a good way (in my opinion.)
I’d like to try them one more time with soaked but NOT dehydrated oats– I think they’d do all right if the oats are well drained.
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made these today (I added extra oats)- YUMMY & EASY! tanks!
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I am so stoked to try this recipe! I am looking for granola bars to have in the mornings. I am pregnant (in theory… complex situation) and need to up my protein, but breakfast is NOT my strong suit EVER. I just can’t stand most foods in the morning. I think granola bars will be a great thing to add. And after using the recipe calculator on sparkpeople I am glad to note that it has about 150% of the protein and folate for the the same amount of calories of another recipe I was considering. YAY! Plus there are no dairy products and I am trying to find more and more recipes that don’t need dairy in case there is ever a time in which I cannot afford to get my raw milk or else there is a famine of some sort or if my power goes out and I simply can’t store dairy products. I’m trying to be more practical about food storage. ;) THANK YOU!!!
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I made these today after I saw them on a friends fb page and I have to thank you because they were awesome!! My children love them. I doubled the recipe and put them in a cookie sheet and feel so good that I made something healthy that all 4 of my children will eat. I’m going to love putting them in their lunchboxes and using them for sports snacks.
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These are great! Thx. I made them w/unsweetened dried coconut and almond butter and they would have tasted like an almond joy if I put choc chips in them. Just an idea, have you ever soaked and dehydrated the oats first? Then you wouldn’t have to worry about the phytic acid. I’m trying that with my next batch. Thx again.
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Laura Reply:
January 15th, 2012 at 3:01 pm
I’ve not tried that, but I’m sure it would work great!
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Used almond butter. Turned out chewy, need to keep in fridge.
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Just trying this for the first time and let me tell you how excited I am because it’s one more
amazing way to incorporate coconut oil into our
diets! Hope these turn out as good as yours look:) Thanks for such a healthy, easy and fun
recipe!!! God Bless :)
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I finally made these. One batch was with trail mix. The second batch was with Cinnamon Cheerios. They are DELICIOUS!!! The batch with Cheerios were a little crumbly though. Was thinking of adding a little more peanut butter. Absolutely delicious though!!! THANK YOU!!!!
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