8 Easy Granola Bar Recipes

4.91 from 83 votes

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These 8 easy granola bar recipes come together in a snap for a no-fuss, no-bake healthy snack. Made with oats, honey, nut butter, and EIGHT different flavor mix-ins, you’ll find the perfect granola bar mixture for your dream granola bar!

variety of granola bars on white background.

Homemade granola bars are awesome! They taste delicious, travel well, are just plain easy to make, and are inexpensive. Need a snack for preschool, after t-ball, or to take in the car to a game? Granola bars will be there, no matter what needs to be done! This recipe makes perfectly chewy granola bars.

One of the best things about granola bars is that they are highly customizable. You can make your own at home, changing the ingredients to suit your preferences. This allows you to control the amount of sugar used and avoid any additives or preservatives found in some store-bought bars.

variety of granola bars on white background.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • Prep Ahead: These store super well in the fridge or freezer.
  • Easy Snack: These are a super healthy snack and packed with nutrients.
  • Make At Home: They are quick and easy to make at home with simple ingredients you have on hand in the pantry. No more granola bars from the grocery store.
  • Great Consistency: These bars have a chewy texture, just the way my family likes their granola bars!

Recipe Ingredients

  • Old-fashioned rolled oats
  • Nuts
  • Honey
  • Butter – unsalted
  • Brown sugar
  • Vanilla extract

See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.

a round plate with rectangle strips of homemade granola bar recipe with chocolate chips on top.

How to Make Homemade Granola Bars

clear mixing bowl the progress of making the homemade granola bar recipe.
clear mixing bowl the progress of making the homemade granola bar recipe.

Step 1: Toast the nuts and oats and boil the sugar, butter, and honey.

Step 2: Add the wet ingredients and dry ingredients to a bowl and stir.

granola bar mixture being pressed into pan by measuring cup.
top view of granola bars on a cutting board.

Step 3: Press the mixture into a pan and refrigerate to set.

Step 4: Remove from the pan, cut, and enjoy!

Recipe FAQs

How do you get granola bars to stick together?

Press the bars into the pan very firmly. I normally grease the bottom of a glass cup or measure up and use it to stamp down the mixture in the pan.

How long do granola bars last?

They last a good long while just at room temperature in an airtight container and even longer in the fridge! I’d say 5-7 days on the counter and 10+ cold in the fridge.

Can I use maple syrup in place of the honey?

Yes, it will work fine, but you will need to cook it a few minutes longer since the syrup has more moisture than the honey.

top view of granola bars in a plastic container.

Expert Tips

  • Honey Fans: If you like a stronger honey flavor, use 1/3 cup honey and 1/4 cup brown sugar in this recipe.
  • Chocolate Tip: If you are going to add chocolate, you’ll want to wait until the hot honey and oat mixture cools a little bit and is closer to room temperature (about 15 minutes), or all the chocolate chips will melt (it still tastes great but doesn’t look as nice).
  • Toasting is Good: Toasting the nuts and oats is optional, making the granola bars taste like cookies. I highly recommend it.
  • Great for Trips: Granola bars make an excellent on-the-go food. Pack up a tote bag with these bars, some maple banana muffins, and drinks, and you’re ready for anytime hunger hits!
a plate of homemade granola bars with chocolate chips.

Tips & Tricks for Making Homemade Granola Bars

Here are My 8 Granola Bar Variations

Blueberry Granola Bars

  • Master mix
  • Almonds
  • ½ cup dried blueberries
  • ¼ cup shredded coconut

Dark Chocolate Cherry Granola Bars

  • Master mix
  • Pecans
  • ½ cup dried cherries
  • ¼ cup dark chocolate chips

Tropical Granola Bars

  • Master mix
  • Cashews
  • ½ cup chopped dried fruit (pineapple, mango, and mandarin oranges)
  • ¼ cup coconut

White Chocolate Cranberry Granola Bars

  • Master mix
  • Almonds
  • ¼ cup dried cranberries
  • ¼ cup sunflower seeds
  • ¼ cup white chocolate chips
Title Image for 8 Homemade Granola Bars with images of 8 different homemade granola bars.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola Bars

  • Master mix
  • ¼ cup creamy peanut butter (add this when you add the vanilla and salt and stir well to combine)
  • ½ cup M&M’s
  • ¼ cup mini chocolate chips

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Granola Bars

  • Master mix
  • ¼ cup creamy peanut butter (add this when you add the vanilla and salt and stir well to combine)
  • ⅓ cup broken pretzel pieces
  • ¼ cup peanut butter chips
  • ¼ cup mini chocolate chips

Spiced Nut Granola Bars

  • Master mix
  • ½ cup almonds
  • ½ cup pecans
  • ½ cup cashews
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon (add this when you add the vanilla and salt)

Sunflower Pecan Granola Bars

  • Master mix
  • Almonds
  • ¼ cup sunflower seeds
  • ¼ cup candy-coated sunflower seeds
  • ¼ cup shredded coconut
variety of granola bars on white background.

More Healthy Snack Recipes to Consider

4.91 from 83 votes

Easy Granola Bar Recipes

These 8 easy granola bar recipes come together in a snap for a no-fuss, no-bake healthy snack. Made with oats, honey, nut butter, and EIGHT different flavor mix-ins, you’ll find the perfect granola bar mixture for your dream granola bar!
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total: 25 minutes
Servings: 16

Ingredients 

Master Granola Bar Recipe

  • 2 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup nuts, roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3/4 cups total extra mix-ins, (About 1/4 cup of 3 different ingredients such as dried fruits, coconut, chocolate chips, etc. Please see the following recipe mix-ins for options.)

Blueberry Granola Bars

  • Almonds
  • ½ cup dried blueberries
  • ¼ cup shredded coconut

Dark Chocolate Cherry Granola Bars

  • Pecans
  • ½ cup dried cherries
  • ¼ cup dark chocolate chips

Tropical Granola Bars

  • Cashews
  • ½ cup chopped dried fruit, pineapple, mango, and mandarin oranges
  • ¼ cup coconut

White Chocolate Cranberry Granola Bars

  • Almonds
  • ¼ cup dried cranberries
  • ¼ cup sunflower seeds
  • ¼ cup white chocolate chips

Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola Bars

  • ¼ cup creamy peanut butter, add this when you add the vanilla and salt and stir well to combine
  • ½ cup M&M’s
  • ¼ cup mini chocolate chips

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Granola Bars

  • ¼ cup creamy peanut butter, add this when you add the vanilla and salt and stir well to combine
  • cup broken pretzel pieces
  • ¼ cup peanut butter chips
  • ¼ cup mini chocolate chips

Spiced Nut Granola Bars

  • ½ cup almonds
  • ½ cup pecans
  • ½ cup cashews
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon, add this when you add the vanilla and salt

Sunflower Pecan Granola Bars

  • Almonds
  • ¼ cup sunflower seeds
  • ¼ cup candy-coated sunflower seeds
  • ¼ cup shredded coconut
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Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch square baking dish with parchment paper or aluminum foil and lightly spray with cooking spray.
  • Place the oats and nuts on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly toasted.
  • While the oats are toasting, add the honey, butter, and brown sugar to a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves, stirring constantly. Let the mixture bubble, while stirring, for 1 minute and then remove from the heat.
  • Place the nuts and oats in a large bowl.
  • Stir in the vanilla and salt to the butter mixture. Pour this mixture over the oat and nut mixture and stir to combine. Add any extra ingredients (except for chocolate) and stir to combine. Make sure none of the oats are dry.
  • If you are adding chocolate, wait about 15 minutes for the mixture to cool a bit before adding the chocolate and then stirring to combine.
  • Place all of the oat mixture in the prepared pan. Use a rubber spatula or the bottom of a greased measuring cup to press the mixture into the pan. Press it in very firmly, this is what makes the bars stick together.
  • Chill the granola bars for at least 2 hours. Lift the bars from the pan using the edges of the foil or parchment and place them on a cutting board. Cut into desired shape/sizes and serve.
  • Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 10 days. If you are stacking the granola bars place a piece of parchment between the layers to help prevent sticking.

Video

Notes

  • The nutritional information was calculated by using almonds for the 3/4 of a cup of “mix-ins”.
  • If you don’t want to use nuts, skip them or replace them with something like shredded coconut.
  • You can skip the step where you toast the oats and the nuts, but it really takes them to the next level of deliciousness. I highly recommend it. If you’re in a hurry, though, you can skip it!
  • Don’t cook it higher than medium heat; the honey will scorch if you cook it at a higher temperature.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 of 16 servings, Calories: 134kcal, Carbohydrates: 19g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 8mg, Sodium: 40mg, Potassium: 83mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 89IU, Vitamin C: 0.04mg, Calcium: 15mg, Iron: 1mg
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4.91 from 83 votes

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Recipe Rating




303 Comments

  1. Jess says:

    THANKS so much! These have gone down and absolute treat with my 5 nephews and all their soccer team mates!

    There is a no nut policy here in Australia so I replaced the nuts for a mix of sunflower seeds, pepitas and shredded coconut and it worked great!

    It’s been shared around to all the mum’s, thanks!

    1. Melissa says:

      So happy to hear this! And I love your ideas for substitutions. Thanks for sharing.

  2. hungry person says:

    4 stars
    these were amazing! I used the recipe without nuts or any add ins and it was amazing. i popped them in the fridge for 30 minutes and they were perfect.

    1. Melissa says:

      So glad you like them! Thank you so much for letting me know.

    2. Melissa says:

      It’s generally just a measuring issue, too heavy on any of the dry ingredients and you’ll get bars that don’t stick, feel free to measure a little lighter or to up the liquids a little to meet your needs.

  3. Gerald James says:

    can i completely eliminate the sugar? will the bars still hold?

    1. Melissa says:

      I haven’t tried it! Are you thinking of omitting just the brown sugar or the brown sugar AND the honey?

  4. Sarah Grant says:

    5 stars
    Just made these for the first time on the weekend. They were a big hit by all!

    Wanted to share that I used coconut sugar instead of brown sugar and was happy with the results! Bars held together and taste great. Thanks for this amazing recipe!

    1. Melissa says:

      Thank you for the tips and tricks! It’s so great to know what worked well for other people.

  5. Ariane says:

    5 stars
    Um first of all these were DELICIOUS! Iโ€™ve been trying to find a suitable recipe to replace our grocery store granola bars (theyโ€™re so expensive! And go too fast in a family of 6) Tip for using chocolate/m&mโ€™s/anything that melts: freeze your chocolate first! It prevents melting when stirring into the warm bar mixture so they hold their shape. Thank you for the recipe! We loved it!

    1. Melissa says:

      Whattttttttt?! You officially blew my mind. That’s SUCH a great idea! Thank you for sharing!

    2. Jim says:

      5 stars
      I tried freezing the chocolate chips. This did not work for me. But it might be because I tripled the batch. (If I’m going to spend a half hour making granola bars, I’m going to darn well make it worth it. And they WILL get eaten.) With the extra mass to surface area ratio, I guess it takes longer to cool down. We had a gooey chocolate mess, and had to put more chocolate chips in later. Again. Oh darn!

  6. Allison says:

    5 stars
    I love this recipe. I use Rice Krispies instead of nuts.

    Has anyone found a good way of using maple syrup instead of honey? I tried it but the bars didn’t stick together. Thanks.

  7. henly says:

    Thanks for sharing with us!

    1. Melissa says:

      Thanks for coming back to leave a comment!

  8. MaryBeth Gallagher says:

    5 stars
    For Christmas I used this recipe to make “stocking stuffers” for everyone in the family. I tripled the recipe and loaded the bars with a variety of “add-ins”. The bars were so scrumptious and popular that I have not stopped making them! Guess what everybody got for Valentine’s Day! Thanks!!

    1. Melissa says:

      Now that’s the kind of gift I want to get for Christmas and Valentine’s! Such a great idea!

  9. Janet Levy says:

    I made these with a base of cashews and rolled oats and the following mix-ins: dried tart cherries, dried apricots and a muscat/golden/red flame raisin mix.

    The total calorie count per bar was a whopping 345 or three times that of a commercial bar. However, sharing one with my husband following a 30 mile bike ride was well worth the caloric overload! (I would vote for a Snickers at 250 calories next time).

  10. Kristin says:

    Thank you for this! My son (3.5yrs) and I decided today was a good day to make some granola bars to have on hand. We absolutely LOVE all of your energy bite recipes – we call them nut balls and ALWAYS have a big bag in the freezer for quick snacks. When we found this granola bar recipe and variation on your site we knew this was the granola bar recipe for us!

    1. Melissa says:

      LOVE this comment! Thank you! Which one did you choose and how did it turn out?! Thank you for taking the time to come back and comment, that really makes my day.