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7 Homemade Granola Bars

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7 homemade granola bars that are perfect for meal prep or lunch boxes! The perfect sweet treat to enjoy with your morning coffee.

7 homemade granola bars with recipe names

This post has been in the making for MONTHS and I’m so happy to be sharing it with you! After the popularity of these 7 No Bake Energy Bites, it was high time for a granola bar version!

And I have to say that I just might like these homemade granola bars even more because you don’t need to mess around with rolling them.

These homemade granola bars

  • require just one pot and a 9×9 inch pan
  • can be made gluten-free
  • are made with (mostly) clean ingredients and are a great alternative to the preservative-filled ones at the grocery store

This post covers a LOT! Click on any of the links below to go directly to that section

homemade granola bar recipe overhead

Tools & Ingredients

simmering honey and coconut oil to make healthy granola bars

(the most important step is to simmer your coconut oil & honey together. Start the timer when it starts to bubble like this)

How to make granola bars

This recipe has unprocessed, healthy ingredients (with a few minor exceptions). Let’s discuss the important steps.

  1. Combine coconut oil, nut butter (if the recipe calls for it) and honey in a saucepan. Guess what? I weighed the ingredients for you so you can put the pot on your kitchen scale and not dirty any measuring cups. WIN!
  2. Melt everything, then bring to a simmer. THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART! Sorry for yelling, I just really want you to read this part ? Simmering the coconut oil, peanut butter and honey for one minute reduces is it and gives it the consistency necessary to bind the bars and hold everything together.
  3. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and salt. Cool for 10-15 minutes.
  4. Stir in the chopped almonds, oatmeal, and chocolate chips. You chocolate chips will probably melt a bit and that’s not a bad thing at all ?
  5. Press into a parchment or foil-lined 9 x 9 inch baking pan. TIP: spray your spatula with spray oil to prevent the mixture from sticking to it. Press down firmly. Really, don’t be shy. I do two rounds of pressing down and spray the spatula in between.
  6. Sprinkle with some extra chocolate chips, then cool in the fridge for at least two hours. If you can do overnight, even better.
  7. Cut into bars and store in the fridge. These bars do best stored in the fridge. They can soften up and be hard to handle when stored at room temperature.

how to make granola bars- overhead view of bars in 9x9 inch pan

FAQ

Can I make them vegan? I did test this at one point and had very crumbly granola bars, unfortunately.

What else can I add to them? Clearly I had fun playing around with this recipe and you can too! Play around with different nuts, seeds, and other delicious add-ins: 1/2 cup of add-ins is a good amount to start with, and 1/4 cup of nut butter of choice. I’d stick to all natural nut butters because it helps the bars set up.

Can I omit the coconut oil?  I have not tested this recipe with butter, however I have seen some homemade granola bar recipes that use butter…so it’s worth a try. If you try this, would you let me know how they turn out?

How long do they last? You MUST store these granola bars in the fridge, otherwise they become too soft and will crumble. Stored in an airtight container, they are good for 1 week in the fridge and 3 months in the freezer.

Can they be frozen?  YES! You can freeze these granola bars in meal prep containers or in freezer bags (I love these re-usable silicone freezer bags!).

7 Flavors

healthy granola bar recipe- classic chocolate chip granola bars overhead shot

1. Classic Chocolate Chip

A basic granola bar with honey, chopped almonds and mini chocolate chips.

7 Homemade Granola Bars

2. Almond Butter Snickerdoodle

This fun flavor adds almond butter and cinnamon to the mix. This one is great with toffee pieces (not pictured).

7 Homemade Granola Bars

3. Monster Cookie 

With peanut butter, mini M&M’s, and mini chocolate chips, this is my 4-year old’s favorite by far.

7 Homemade Granola Bars

4. Double Chocolate

These granola bars get a double dose of chocolate from cocoa powder (simmered with the honey & coconut oil) and mini chocolate chips.

7 Homemade Granola Bars

5. Fruit & Nut

These were a childhood favorite! Dried cranberries and dried blueberries are paired with chopped almonds and pecans.

7 Homemade Granola Bars

6. Mocha

These might be my favorites…a tablespoon of espresso powder added to the honey/coconut oil gives these a great coffee flavor.

7 Homemade Granola Bars

7. Peanut Butter

Find the printable peanut butter granola bar recipe here!

Our classic chocolate chip granola bars with a little natural peanut butter added in. So much flayvah!

Recipe Card

overhead shot of homemade granola bars with a variety of flavors
Print Recipe
4.56 from 9 votes

7 Homemade Granola Bars

Course: Snack
Cuisine: American
Calories: 225kcal
Author: Denise Bustard
Servings: 12
7 homemade granola bars that are perfect for meal prep or lunch boxes! The perfect sweet treat to enjoy with your morning coffee.
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time2 mins
15 mins
Total Time12 mins

Ingredients

Classic Chocolate Chip

  • 1/2 cup honey (156 g)
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil (74 g)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1/2 cup almonds (coarsely chopped)
  • 3 cups rolled oats (284 g)
  • 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (45 g)

Monster Cookie Granola Bars

  • 1/2 cup honey (156 g)
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil (74 g)
  • 1/3 cup all natural peanut butter (84 g; almond butter works too)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 3 cups rolled oats (284 g)
  • 1/2 cup almonds (coarsely chopped)
  • 1/2 cup mini M & M's
  • 2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips (18 g)

Fruit & Nut Granola Bars

  • 1/2 cup honey (156 g)
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil (74 g)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts (almonds & pecans)
  • 1/2 cup dried fruit (cranberries & blueberries)
  • 3 cups rolled oats (284 g)

Mocha Granola Bars

  • 1/2 cup honey (156 g)
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil (74 g)
  • 1 tablespoon espresso powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 3 cups rolled oats (284 g)
  • 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (45 g)

Double Chocolate Granola Bars

  • 1/2 cup honey (156 g)
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil (74 g)
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 3 cups rolled oats (284 g)
  • 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (45 g)

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

  • 1/2 cup honey (156 g)
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil (74 g)
  • 1/3 cup natural peanut butter (84 g)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1/2 cup chopped almonds or peanuts
  • 3 cups rolled oats (284 g)
  • 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (45 g)

Almond Butter Snickerdoodle Granola Bars

  • 1/2 cup honey (156 g)
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil (74 g)
  • 1/3 cup natural almond butter (84 g)
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 3 cups rolled oats (284 g)
  • 1/4 cup toffee bits

Instructions

  • Combine honey, coconut oil and nut butter (if using) in a medium pot. Bring to a simmer, and once pot starts bubbling up all over (see image at top of post), start the timer for 1.5 minutes (for chocolate chip & fruit & nut) or 1 minute (for all others).
  • When time is up, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, salt, cocoa powder (for double chocolate), cinnamon (for snickerdoodle almond butter), espresso powder (for mocha). Let it cool down for 10-15 minutes.
  • While pot is cooling, prepare a 9x9 inch baking dish with parchment paper (I secure mine with binder clips).
  • Stir in all remaining ingredients until evenly coated and press into the prepared pan. Spray a spatula with oil and press down into the pan. Press firmly (I go through and press 2-3 times, spraying spatula again as needed).
  • Cool in the fridge for 4 hours- overnight (overnight is best!), before slicing into bars.

Storage

  • Store in a sealed container in the fridge (they soften at room temperature) for up to a week or the freezer for up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1classic chocolate chip granola bar | Calories: 225kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 7mg | Potassium: 122mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 10IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 1.2mg
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About Denise Bustard

Denise Bustard is the creator of Sweet Peas and Saffron, a meal prep-focussed food blog. With a PhD in biochemistry, Denise takes a scientific approach to perfecting her recipes. You can find Denise's work featured on Huffington Post, MSN, Self and more. read more

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Comments

  1. Rachel

    5 stars
    Thank you for this recipe! My daughter has many food allergies, so store bought granola bars are very hard to find and super expensive. I made this recipe today, subbed in sunflower seeds for the almonds, and they are delicious! I accidentally used quick oats instead of rolled oats, and they still worked great! Thanks for another winner.

    Reply

    • Denise Bustard

      Hi Rachel! I’m so happy to hear this recipe worked well for you, and also that’s great to hear quick oats worked for you! Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and leave a review 🙂

      Reply

  2. Clea

    I made the fruit/nut, double chocolate and a customized cranberry/chocolate. Easier than I thought and they are so good I’m never buying store bought again! Denise I am so grateful that I found you!

    Reply

  3. Andrew Smith

    1 star
    We took the pb, coconut oil, and honey and simmered this combination. After some time, consistent small bubbles were formed, but not to the amount the picture depicted. We thought we should wait until there were bubbles everywhere, like the picture showed. After all, it was the most important step. We were so excited for these granola bars. Unfortunately, later there was smoke and we soon found the high quality honey, coconut oil, and pb were burnt. We followed your instructions of using the image at the top of the post to guide us on how long to heat the combination. Because of this, we have burned product and on the bottom of our pans are black.

    Reply

    • Denise Bustard

      Hi Andrew, I’m so sad to read this, as I’ve never had this happen. I’m cringing about your pans being ruined. I’m wondering about the honey you used…was it real honey? I tried making this with maple syrup and never got bubble. Also, the peanut butter- was it all natural, or the kind with palm oil? It’s super important to use 100% natural peanut butter for this recipe. Again, I’m sorry that this happened to you 🙁

      Reply

  5. Emily

    5 stars
    I made the fruit and nut bars but used butter instead of coconut oil and for the nut/fruit ratio I added 1c total of dried cherries, apricots, almonds, pecans, unsweetened coconut and semisweet chocolate chips and they turned out amazing! Will definitely become a staple in our house!

    Reply

    • Denise

      Oh I’m SO happy to hear that butter worked for you, Emily! I have been meaning to test this forever so it’s so great that you have successfully made them.

      Reply

  7. Sara

    These are wonderful! I’m breastfeeding, and oats are recommended to increase production.
    I use the Classic Chocolate Chip recipe, and add some Ground Flax seed and dried cranberries instead of almonds. I have these in my fridge at all times for a quick snack!
    Thank you!

    Reply

  8. Paula

    5 stars
    I whipped up the chocolate bars and was very pleased! Quick and easy! I wrapped them individually in psper and packed them in a quart baggie to take on our camping trip with the grandchildren. Can’t wait to try the other flavors!

    Reply

  9. Kat

    5 stars
    Oh my gosh, so good! And so darn easy! I’ve only tried the snickerdoodle one, but you can bet I’ll try them all because it’s that good.

    Reply

  11. Allison Porter (Moch)

    Denise! So cool to see your page at the top of the search looking for granola bars on google! My sister and I love your page. Can’t wait to try this recipe out.

    Reply

  14. evgeni x

    as far as I know, simmering honey will destroy all it’s health benefits, and make it another high-sugar syrup. any ideas how to keep the honew raw?

    Reply

    • Denise

      Coconut oil sets up firmly, so regular oil won’t work the same. I have seen some granola bars use butter, which *may* work but I really can’t say as I’ve only tested with coconut oil.

      Reply

    • Denise

      Hi Michelle! I’ve only tested with rolled oats, and worry that quick oats might be too dry for these bars to set up right. But if you try it, I’d love to hear how it goes for you!

      Reply

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