Need an easy recipe for homemade baked chewy granola bars that don’t fall apart and stay moist? Here it is- a recipe that takes just minutes and is healthier and tastier than anything you can buy!
Granola bars. The store shelves are FULL of so many different kinds. There are the bars we all knew from years ago – the crispy flat bars that came two to a package. Then the barrage of chewy granola bars hit the shelves which seemed to up the sugar content – some are so close to a candy bar that they are coated in chocolate!
Even so, the term “granola bar” still has a healthy association, doesn’t it? And now of course you can find a whole section of “healthy” bars that may be all nuts, all grain, only sweetened with dates, and so on. Though most still have long ingredient lists, questionable flavors, and are really expensive ($4 for one bar!?).
But granola bars are still one of the best ways to have a quality on-the-go snack or meal replacement, especially when you can control the ingredients. So I began a quest to create a recipe that would stay moist and chewy, but not fall apart.
After trying what seemed like a million granola bar recipes, I came up with not one, but two that were just about perfect. A quick chewy no-bake granola bar and this hearty baked chewy granola bar.
Why two granola bar recipes? I like to make this baked bar when I want a nutritionally dense, hearty bar that’s great to take hiking and camping. It’s also the one I make when I don’t have crispy rice cereal and granola to make the chewy no-bake bars. When I do have the ingredients and need a quick bar, it’s great to have the no-bake option.
Which isn’t to say these baked bars are a second choice option – we LOVE them! They are just sweet enough (using either honey or maple syrup), have great flavor, and are full of possible variations. I feel great feeding these to my family!
Even though they are baked, they are still chewy and these bars seem to stay fresher longer at room temperature than the no-bake variety, a plus for vacations. But they do take a little bit longer to make, so I find myself going to the no-bake variety if I have all the ingredients and limited time.
All this is to say – I like having two go-to recipes for granola bars where I know the ingredients and can change them up with different flavors and add-ins. I hope you’ll try both and let me know if you also like the versatility of having two recipes!
Baked Chewy Granola Bars
Wondering how easy it is to make your own baked granola bars? About as easy as mixing together a batch of bar cookies! Start by creaming butter, coconut oil, honey, and vanilla.
Add the remaining ingredients and mix to combine. You can choose your ingredients to equal 1 cup of add-ins. When I use chocolate chips, I decrease it to just 1/3 cup and use mini chocolate chips – 1/2 cup just seemed too much. I list some of our favorite combos in the full recipe.
Pat into a parchment-lined (or greased) baking pan and bake for about 20 minutes, until just browning around the edges.
Cool about 10 minutes on a rack before scoring into bars while in the pan and then let them cool completely. I like to cut these into long bars to resemble granola bars, either 16 or 20, but they are pretty big – and nutritionally dense – so you may want to cut them into smaller bars.
When my kids were younger, I always wrapped these individually in parchment or in baggies to keep in the snack basket for easy grabbing. Now I simply keep them in an airtight container in the freezer because we eat them less often and freezing them means they are fresh whenever we want them.
I like to grab one to keep in my purse for long days in town running errands and they’re perfect in a backpack for a day of kayaking or hiking.
If you’ve got these waiting, there’s never a need for questionable store-bought bars, no matter how “natural” they proclaim to be. It’s so nice knowing exactly what is in what you’re eating, isn’t there?
Easy Baked Chewy Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter*
- 1/4 cup coconut oil or use all butter or more coconut oil, if you prefer- just equal 3/4 c. total fat
- 1 cup honey or a mix of 1/2 cup honey + 1/2 cup maple syrup, or all maple syrup
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 4-1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup whole wheat or spelt flour
- 1/4 cup flax seed meal
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup TOTAL add-ins - some favorite flavor combos are:
- 1/3 cup chocolate chips** + 1/2 cup sunflower seeds whole flaxseeds, or hemp seeds
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries + 1/2 cup chopped almonds
- 1/2 cup raisins + 1/2 cup chopped peanuts
Instructions
- Line a 13" x 9" pan with parchment (or grease lightly) and preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Combine the butter, coconut oil, honey, and vanilla in a large bowl and cream together well. Add the oats, flour, flax meal, and baking soda and mix well. Stir in the add-ins.
- Transfer to prepared pan and firmly press mixture evenly.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the edges are just browning. Let cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then score into bars (18 - cut 6 x 3 - for traditional bar size or 16 or 20 long and narrow bars) before letting cool completely in the pan.
- Remove from pan, cutting through bars as needed and store in air tight containers or baggies in the fridge or freezer. These are good at room temperature, too (which is nice for vacations and hikes), but I usually stick them in the freezer for longer storage - they freeze great!
Notes
Nutrition
More Easy Snacks You May Like:
Ultimate No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars
Chocolate Chip Almond Granola Bites (+ Lots of Variations)
Healthy Maple Sweetened Chili Pecans
This recipe is one of AOC’s “Pantry Basics,” which are things that we normally use and have in our pantries that we mostly buy from the store, not realizing (like me…) how easy they are (and better for you, and cheaper) to make at home! See more pantry basics here.
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Tina Scott says
I’m so excited about your blog! I’ve “pinned” many of your recipes for a “real food”, homemade lifestyle. Thank you!
With this recipe, I’ve made it twice now, and the bars seem to be dry/crumbly. In the first batch, I did your recipe as-is. In the second batch, I swapped the butter for peanut butter and added a 1/2 tsp of almond oil. I baked both for 20 minutes.
Any suggestions? I wondered about soaking the oats in milk prior to baking.
Jami says
Hmmm. Not sure why that is happening for you – maybe your oven is hotter and you can bake them less? You can certainly try soaking the oats if you’d like.
I’m so glad you’ve found some recipes to make on the site!
Tina Scott says
Thank you, Jami! I’ll try baking them for less time, and I might try soaking the oats, as well. My oldest daughter (3-yrs) and I enjoy them, but my husband won’t touch them. I’m not giving up yet. 😉
Jami says
🙂
Pattie Snyder says
I made these with all butter, no coconut oil, and agave syrup instead of honey. My add-ins were dried cranberries, raw pumpkin seeds, and chia seeds. These are perfect for my breakfast/lunch. They are a little thick for my taste, but all in all, great. Next time, I will try with dried apricots, pistachios, and a little whole flaxseed.
Jami says
That sounds like a great combo, Pattie! You can pat them in a large pan if you’d like them thinner, too.
Valerie says
I made this with all coconut oil, all maple syrup, and old fashioned oats. When I went to cut them they tended to fall apart. I put the whole pan in the freezer, and that seemed to solve the problem. My question is, do you use the old fashioned oats or the quick cooking kind? I thought these were really good! just a little crumbly.
Jami says
I use old fashioned, but quick would also work. I haven’t noticed ours being crumbly. I actually always use some honey – maybe the stickier honey helps hold them together more?
Anon says
I always use less vegetable fat than animal fat in baking recipes – for example, a batch of 24 cookies uses about an ounce less coconut oil than butter (for my recipe, anyway). If you are swapping for all coconut oil, I would start by reducing it and see if that solves the problem. Hope this helps!
Gina Ries says
Coconut oil has a lower melting point than butter. The butter stays hard whereas the coconut oil is a less stable fat.
Hannah says
Love love love these. My daughter loves granola bars from the store, but they’re pretty pricey, and if we’re honest, they’re just glorified candy bars lol. I’ve been wanting to try making my own, but needed to find a recipe to start with. Chose this recipe, and made bars with half dried currants and half peanuts for the add ins. I didn’t have enough flax so just left it out. They were still super soft after setting at room temp, so I’m storing them in the fridge, and froze half. These are so good. Tastes so much better than the ones at the grocery store, and my picky five year old loves snacking on them. I’m going to have to try adding peanut butter next time, but I cut the bars into 24 so I wont have to make another batch for a little while haha.
Jami says
SO glad these are working for you, Hannah. I totally agree – so much better than store bought!
Stephanie says
Are you able to use regular white flour in place of the wheat or spelt flour?
Jami says
Sure!
Gary Duncan says
Found your site looking on P for a ketchup recipe. Spent a LOT of extra time researching your other recipes and ideas. I try to stay away from refined oils, sugars and syrups, and any processed ingredients. ANY oil that does not say “EXPELLER PRESSED” will kill you, that simple. I was involved in the production of many types of edible oils in a past life. Great ideas and comments, will be trying a number of recipes. Thanks.
Jami says
Glad you are finding recipes you can use, Gary.
Judith says
Thank you SO much! You solved my search for the perfect homemade granola bar! The only problem is that these are too good and we eat them up so fast I had to make another batch a few days later. Thanks again!
Jami says
I’m so glad to know that, Judith – you’re so welcome!
Brittany says
I’ve made these many times and my family loves them! Thanks for sharing and love your site! I use it often for recipes.
Jami says
Wow, thanks so much for letting me know, Brittany – your kind words just made my day!
Cori says
Just made these without flax meal, added 1 t. sea salt and my add ins were coconut, flax seeds and chia seeds, YUMMY!! Thanks for sharing!
amy says
I have a friend asking if the flax meal is necessary?? Is it just for texture, or is it used as an egg substitute?? BTW – I’ve made this several times and my kiddos don’t even wait for it to cool before devouring the whole pan!!
Jami says
No, the flax isn’t needed for anything other than an added health benefit, Amy. I just try to sneak in healthy ingredients where ever I can. 🙂 Glad your family likes them!
kinga @ blueloom says
What a great idea to make your own granola bars. I have a severe allergy to sesame and never buy them in the store because I worry that they may contain tiny sesame seeds. I will definitely try your recipe.
Thank you for your comment on our kitchen cabinets. Yes, it’s a big difference without those small cabinets on both sides of the window, and we don’t even miss the storage.
Kinga
mountain mama says
yum – must try . i was just thinking about homemade granola and where in the world to start!! 🙂
Sherrin says
these look good! I would like to try them because healthy ones are so expensive to buy.
ceodraiocht says
These look delicious! I’m going to have to give them a go. Saw you over on Funky Junk.
Thanks!
Maggie
Jami @An Oregon Cottage says
Shannon- Yeah, I wish I had found them earlier, too. 🙂 And my kids like the chocolate chip variation best, too, I think!
Maggie- Thanks! I’ll check it out…
Shannon says
I have a VERY similar recipe that I make (slight changes to ingredient amounts, but same ingredients) and we absolutely LOVE them! I was fortunate to stumble on the recipe early in my quest for “The Perfect Granola Bar”, that I never thought to keep looking for something different. I’ve never thought to make it with maple syrup – now I’m going to have to make a batch tomorrow to give that variation a try!
One of our favorite ways to have them is a white chocolate chip/mini chocolate chip combination. They’re a bit more “dessert-y” that way, but sometimes that’s what we’re looking for – a little sweet something without eating a cookie,brownie, or piece of cake. And because I make them frequently enough, it helps keep the super sweet sweets (cookies, etc) out of our house…Lord knows my hips don’t need those! I also love that my kids love them too. They actually request that I make them, and that is music to my ears – that they crave something healthier!!
Thanks for the variation ideas, and Happy Cooking!
Barb-Harmony Art Mom says
Jami,
I think you are one shining star of a blogger that I really am glad I am getting to know through your posts. Thank you for your recipe this morning…I have a high school son who is working at learning to cook and this is a perfect recipe for him to try. Looks yummy. We will be trying these next week and I will link back over to your post. 🙂
Jami @An Oregon Cottage says
Barb- You sweet thing! Thank you. 🙂 I’ll be waiting to hear how they work for you and your son!
Heather- Let me know which recipe you try and is most similar to the store-bought one you like!
Heather's Blog-o-rama says
Oh, these look really, really yu mmy. I was telling my father about these the other day. We like a particular brand of organic granola bars, but they are bit spendy. So now we can make them ourselves at home. These look really, really good 🙂 🙂 Love and hugs from Oregon, Heather 🙂