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
- 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
This recipe has 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.
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
1. Classic Chocolate Chip
A basic granola bar with honey, chopped almonds and mini chocolate chips.
2. Almond Butter Snickerdoodle
This fun flavor adds almond butter and cinnamon to the mix. This one is great with toffee pieces (not pictured).
3. Monster Cookie
With peanut butter, mini M&M’s, and mini chocolate chips, this is my 4-year old’s favorite by far.
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.
5. Fruit & Nut
These were a childhood favorite! Dried cranberries and dried blueberries are paired with chopped almonds and pecans.
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. 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
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.
