7 homemade granola bars that are perfect for meal prep or lunch boxes! The perfect sweet treat to enjoy with your morning coffee.
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
- Tools & Ingredients
- How to make granola bars
- Granola bar FAQ
- 7 Homemade Granola Bars (recipes)
- Jump Straight to the Recipe Card
Tools & Ingredients
Here are some of my favorite tools and ingredients that I used for these homemade granola bars:
- 9 x 9 inch square pan
- Parchment Sheets
- Paderno 4 L pot (similar to this one)
- Coconut Oil
- Rolled Oats
(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
These healthy granola bars have unprocessed, healthy ingredients (with a few minor exceptions). Let’s discuss the important steps.
- 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!
- 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.
- Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and salt. Cool for 10-15 minutes.
- 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 ?
- 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.
- Sprinkle with some extra chocolate chips, then cool in the fridge for at least two hours. If you can do overnight, even better.
- 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.
Granola Bar FAQ
Can I make these granola bars vegan? I did test this at one point and had very crumbly granola bars, unfortunately.
What else can I add to these granola bars? 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 these granola bars 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 these healthy granola bars 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 Homemade Granola Bars
1. Classic Chocolate Chip
A basic granola bar with honey, chopped almonds and mini chocolate chips.
2. Almond Butter Snickerdoodle Granola Bars
This fun flavor adds almond butter and cinnamon to the mix. This one is great with toffee pieces (not pictured).
3. Monster Cookie Granola Bars
With peanut butter, mini M&M’s, and mini chocolate chips, this is my 4-year old’s favorite by far.
4. Double Chocolate Granola Bars
These granola bars get a double dose of chocolate from cocoa powder (simmered with the honey & coconut oil) and mini chocolate chips.
5. Fruit & Nut Granola Bars
These were a childhood favorite! Dried cranberries and dried blueberries are paired with chopped almonds and pecans.
6. Mocha Granola Bars
These might be my favorites…a tablespoon of espresso powder added to the honey/coconut oil gives these a great coffee flavor.
7. Peanut Butter Granola Bars
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!
Healthy Granola Bars Recipe Card
7 Homemade Granola Bars
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.
Lesley
Made these for after ringette game snack for my daughter’ teams. The girls love them!
Denise
Awesome! So happy to hear this, Lesley! Thanks so much for reporting back 🙂
Emily
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!
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.
Jamie Dreger
I have to hide these from my daughter or she will eat every last one! Denise, you never fail me!
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!
Denise
Hi Sara! I’m so happy to hear you’ve enjoyed the granola bars. Thanks so much for reporting back!
Paula
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!
Denise
So happy you enjoyed them! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review, Paula!
Kat
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.
Denise
I’m so happy to hear this! Hope you enjoy the other flavors as well, Kat!
Jenny
These are amazing! My kids love the monster granola bars. Two thumbs up!
Denise
Hi Jenny! I’m so happy you and your kids enjoyed them. Thank you for the feedback 🙂
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.
Denise
Hi Allison! I’m so glad you like the blog. You’re from Smithers right? What a small world!
Ashley Armsbury
Has anyone tried these with toasting the oats before hand in the oven? Does it make a difference?
Denise
I have not but it wouldn’t hurt! Hope you enjoy!
Callie
OBSESSED with the mocha granola bars. Holy Yum!!!
Denise
So happy you enjoyed! Thanks so much for taking the time out of your day to leave a review 🙂
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?
Denise
Sorry, it is crucial to this recipe that the honey is simmered.
Andrea
How long will these keep without getting moldy or hard?
Denise
Hi Andrea! We keep ours in the fridge for up to a week and in the freezer for longer term storage 🙂
Rhonda Gandee
Why coconut oil, can we use regular oil
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.
Michelle
For the rolled oats, can they be quick oats ?
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!
Dina
I need to omit the nuts as school policy doesnt allow , how to replace the almond butter , etc ?
Thanks
Jennifer
I would try sunbutter
Denise
Hi Dina! You can just leave the nut butters out of these recipes, although I recommend simmering for 1m30s versus just 1 minute, as this helps it firm up. Enjoy!
Barbie
Hi thank you trying these for our after school cooking class today! My kids love making new things with me.
Denise
I hope you enjoy, Barbie!