These homemade granola bars are SO much better than any kind you'd buy at the store. They're easy to make, and they're chewy, nutty, and delicious.
A few weeks ago, I started craving the granola bars I ate as a kid. They had a chewy texture, a sweet, oat-y flavor, and pockets of mini chocolate chips. These days, I don’t keep packaged snacks around the house, but I always have old fashioned oats, nuts, and seeds in my pantry. I might not have had the exact granola bars I was craving on hand, but I could make homemade granola bars that’d be even better!
Fast forward to now, and I’ve made this granola bar recipe more times than I can count. It’s a breeze to make, and the bars are fantastic. They’re chewy, sweet, nutty, and studded with just the right amount of chocolate chips. Filled with wholesome ingredients like oats, pepitas, and nut butter, they’re healthy enough to pass for breakfast, but they’re also a perfect afternoon snack.
Granola Bar Recipe Ingredients
You only need 7 basic ingredients to make this homemade granola bar recipe:
- Natural peanut or cashew butter – It helps bind the bars together, and it adds protein, healthy fats, and irresistible nutty flavor.
- Whole rolled oats – They give these bars a perfect chewy texture. If you’re gluten-free, make sure that you use certified gluten-free oats.
- Honey – Along with the nut butter, it helps all these ingredients stick together! I love its warm amber flavor in this recipe.
- Vanilla extract – It amps up the bars’ warm flavor.
- Sea salt – To make all the rich, sweet, and nutty flavors in this recipe pop!
- Pepitas, crushed peanuts, or cashews – They add healthy fats, protein, and crunch.
- Mini chocolate chips – Who doesn’t love nut butter and chocolate?! Be sure to use mini chocolate chips here, as regular chocolate chips are too big to make cohesive bars. If you don’t have mini chocolate chips, finely chopped dark chocolate will work in their place.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Granola Bars
You won’t believe how easy it is to make this homemade granola bar recipe! Here’s what you need to do:
First, stir together the wet ingredients – the cashew or peanut butter, honey, vanilla extract, and salt.
Mix until the honey is fully incorporated. It will smell amazing!
Second, fold in the dry ingredients – the oats, chocolate chips, and pepitas. The mixture might seem dry at first, but keep stirring! Everything will be fully incorporated in no time.
Next, press the bars into a parchment-lined baking pan. Scoop the mixture onto the bottom of the pan, and cover it with another sheet of parchment paper. Firmly press the mixture to the sides of the pan with your hands. Then, use the back of a measuring cup to smooth and flatten the tops of the bars.
Finally, chill! Transfer the pan to the fridge, and allow the mixture to chill for one hour before you slice and eat the bars. That’s it!
Granola Bar Recipe Tips
- Use runny nut butter. Look for natural cashew or peanut butter with a smooth consistency to make this recipe, not the dry, stiff stuff that you might find at the bottom of a jar. If your nut butter is too dry or thick, it won’t bind the oats, chocolate chips, and nuts or seeds into cohesive bars. Use creamy nut butter, not crunchy.
- Don’t cut the chilling time short. It’s tempting to slice and eat these bars as soon as you press the oat mixture into the pan, but in order for them to be chewy and cohesive, they really need to chill. Pop the pan in the fridge for at least one hour before slicing and eating the bars.
- Store them in the fridge or freezer. Once you slice the bars, cover the pan and store it in the fridge, or transfer the bars to an airtight container. I recommend storing them with a sheet of parchment paper between layers so that the bars don’t stick together. They’ll keep for up to a week in the fridge, but you can also freeze them for up to 2 months. I like to eat these granola bars straight out of the fridge, but if they’re frozen, let them thaw at room temperature for 20 minutes before you eat.
Homemade Granola Bars Variations
- Change up the mix-ins! I love the combination of mini chocolate chips and pepitas in these bars, but they’re delicious with other mix-ins too. Shredded unsweetened coconut, chopped dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, and dried currants are a few of my favorites. Feel free to use what you like, but make sure that you chop any dried fruits or nuts to a small size. You should also maintain the ratios I use in the original recipe. If the mix-ins are too large, or if you add too many, the bars won’t hold together.
- Make them vegan. To make these granola bars vegan, substitute brown rice syrup for the honey. If you can’t find brown rice syrup, you can use maple syrup here. It’s not sticky enough to bind this mixture into cohesive bars, but it makes delicious energy balls! If you use maple, roll the oat mixture into 16 balls before you chill it. They make a perfect bite-sized snack!
More Favorite Oat-y Treats
If you love this chocolate chip granola bar recipe, try one of these oat-y treats next:
- No Bake Cookies
- Homemade Granola
- No Bake Energy Balls
- Strawberry Rhubarb Bars
- Perfect Oatmeal Cookies
- Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
Then, check out this post for 47 more healthy snack ideas!
Homemade Granola Bars
Equipment
- 8x8 Baking Pan (I always use this pan from Ateco)
Ingredients
- 1 cup very smooth creamy natural peanut butter , or cashew butter
- 2/3 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Heaping 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2½ cups whole rolled oats
- 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips*
- 3 tablespoons pepitas or crushed peanuts or cashews
Instructions
- Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, stir together the peanut butter, honey, vanilla, and salt, until smooth.
- Add the oats, chocolate chips and the pepitas (or nuts). The mixture might seem dry at first, but keep stirring and it'll come together. Stir to combine and press firmly into the pan. Use a second piece of parchment paper and the back of a measuring cup to help flatten the mixture. Chill for at least 1 hour, then slice into bars.
- Store bars in the fridge.
Is it possible to use creamy almond butter?
Hi Ashley, we haven’t tested it, but I think it would work great!
So when I make no bake snacks with oats I wonder…would it be better to toast the oats first? Add some flavor and then they won’t seem so raw? What do you think?
Hi Gina, I think that would be ok, but I do think these have plenty of flavor.
Love this recipe, always works out great! I do sub a few ingredients & I add melted dark chocolate over the top, then top with Celtic brand salt!! Satisfy’s my sweet tooth in just a half size of a granola bar 😋
Hi Michelle, I’m so glad you love the recipe! The chocolate drizzle sounds delish.
We Loved these bars! They were wet enough but I wonder if there is a way to make them firmer so they don’t have to be refrigerated? I have a snack bar pan and it works great for these. It’s made of silicone and they come out very well. Would just like to have them out of the fridge though. They are good!!
We Loved these bars! They were wet enough but I wonder if there is a way to make them firmer so they don’t have to be refrigerated? I have a snack bar pan and it works great for these. It’s made of silicone and the come out very well. Would just like to have them out of the fridge though. They are good!!
I was looking for a good school snack option. If I froze these, would they stay well for snack time, defrosting in their backpack? I would imagine it may be 3-5 hrs depending on if its eaten in morning or after lunch.
Really good, made these for my daughter to have as a snack in a volleyball tournament. She loved them and shared some with her teammates.
Hi Jenny, I’m so glad you all loved the granola bars!
Will these last on a road trip?
Hi Jayda, if they’re in a cooler, they’ll be great. If they’re stored out of the fridge, they’ll get soft.
These are simply delicious! The only two things I did differently is used more vanilla and omitted any kind of tree nut (just stuck with chocolate chips.) Will make again. Thank you for sharing this!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
What is the calorie count?
Hi Tammy, I’m sorry, we don’t post nutrition facts but you can plug the ingredients into a site like my fitness pal.
It tastes fantastic…it’s way too wet. I don’t know why…but I plan on adding more oats to dry it out a bit.
would these be okay if they aren’t refrigerated for a couple hours? i was going to make them for a road trip and i won’t be able to refrigerate them for four hours or so.
They’ll be safe to eat, but they’ll get softer and might not stay in the rectangle shape, depending on the temp. They might work better cut into squares or rolled into balls.
How long do they last in the fridge
Hi Brittany, about a week, they also freeze well.
I love this recipe! I’ve made it twice once with almond butter and I think I may do half half next time. They unfortunately don’t taste like store bought granola bars but they’re still very delicious and certainly much healthier so I’m happy!
I melted the honey and PB together and that worked great as a binding agent. Easy and delicious.
Hi Amanda, Great idea! So glad you loved the granola bars.
A little less peanut butter and more oats, then it would be perfect for my taste! Still an absolute hit!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
they’re absolutley delicious but a bit too crumbly, I coudn’t make them sticky enough to stay firm even using the correct measures for every ingredient and leaving the bars freezing the whole night
I too find it a bit crumbly and can’t get it to stay in the bar shape – this is my third go but my hubby does really enjoy them none the less. Any tips to retain the bar shape?
Hi Lauren, it sounds like they’re a little dry – I’d try adding a little more peanut butter and/or honey so the mixture fully coats and it’s more sticky. It could just be the difference in peanut butter consistency from brand to brand. Hope that helps!
Hi Jeanine. I’m also having trouble getting the right consistency. My first attempt was too dry and crumbly. For my second batch I reduced the oats and ended up with smooth peanut butter bars. 😁. I’m in Europe where we use grams more than cups and different conversion sites give different figures. Any sites you’ve used that you can recommend? Bars are still tasty btw.
Made this today with almond butter and craisins instead of pb and chocolate chips. Fantastic and quick! Thanks for this recipe!
I’m so glad you loved it!
I made this today! These were so easy and yummy. My husband usually doesn’t like granola bars but he sure likes these. Do you happen to know the calorie count per a serving? Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Elizabeth, I’m so glad you loved them! We don’t calculate nutrition info for our recipes, but you could use an online nutrition calculator like MyFitnessPal to get a calorie count.
Can we bake these instead of refrigerating? If yes for how long and what temperature? Thanks!
Hi Dominique, no, these are meant to be raw bars – the honey here would get too chewy if baked.
Can I leave out the nuts and seeds? Also can I add in dried fruit?
Hi Nicolas, yes! Feel free to change up the mix-ins.